Cunningham is president of Trust for the National Mall, the official nonprofit partner of the National Park Service, working to restore and maintain our monuments.
Did you grow up with the National Mall?
Yes. When I was young we’d come to Washington every summer because my cousins lived in Arlington. The fireworks and the Lincoln Memorial were my first experience of the Mall. Having lived in Washington 25 years this month, it never ceases to inspire and amaze me.
The Mall is obviously a tourist’s haven, but what should it do for locals?
I want it to be livelier. It’s a busy place, but for example, I’d love to do more things like Jazz in the Park at the art museum on Friday nights in the summer. And I’d love for more D.C. schoolchildren to experience the park. It’s very surprising to me that not many kids east of the Anacostia come to the park on a regular basis. It’s theirs to play on!
Hopefully they’ll come out for the Cherry Blossom Festival. What’s on this year’s agenda?
This is the 100th anniversary of the donation of the cherry blossom from Tokyo, and we’re kicking off an endowment campaign to preserve the cherry tree. This year, the festival will be citywide, with activities at the Kennedy Center and the National Gallery and universities. It will also run for six weeks, longer than in past years.
So the question on everyone’s mind … when will the darn Reflecting Pool reopen?
We think it’s going to open this June. It was built in 1928, and hasn’t seen much repair since then. But now we’ll be drawing water out of the Potomac River estuary, and excess water from World War II memorial, and filtering and pumping it through the pool. It will finally be sustainable — and much cleaner. You won’t see dead fish in it anymore. – Lisa Gartner
— Lisa Gartner
