The Washington Monument is reopening Thursday after being closed for three years.
The monument will open on schedule after it was announced last month it would reopen Sept. 19.
“We hope the biggest difference is that the elevator is now far more reliable than it was when we were forced to close in 2016,” a spokesperson for the National Park Service told WTOP. “We were closing two, sometimes three, times a week due to mechanical issues in 2016.”
The 555-foot marble obelisk will be revamped with a new visitors and screening center, as well as a modernized elevator.
“The new glass and steel facility will offer full ballistic and blast protection and includes queuing space for 18-20 visitors at a time, screening equipment, an accessible restroom for National Park Service and U.S. Park Police staff and a security office,” the National Park Service said in a press release.
Standing on the other side of the reflecting pool across from the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, the monument is one of the most iconic in the nation’s capital.
