The National Park Service has proposed building a security screening center below the foundation of the Washington Monument, which visitors would reach by tunnels and concrete pathways dug into the grassy mound surrounding the historic landmark.
The parks agency presented blueprints showing four potential routes leading to the underground facility at a Thursday meeting of the National Capital Planning Commission.
The elevator that takes visitors to the top of the monument would be extended below ground to reach the new facility, according to sketches by architect Hany Hassan of the firm Beyer Blinder Belle.
The new security facility would replace the temporary, plywood trailer that has served as a screening center since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Past proposals to replace the trailer were quickly shot down by D.C. residents who want to preserve the grassy knoll encircling the monument. A public hearing on the new proposals scheduled for Monday likely will revive a similar debate.
As an alternative to the underground facility, the parks agency proposed erecting a glasslike structure at the monument’s entrance that would house the security equipment. But members of the National Capital Planning Commission pointed out the equipment must be hidden from public view. Architects are now looking at ways to revise the plan while maintaining the aesthetics of a transparent structure.
Parks officials stressed that the proposals are preliminary and subject to revision.
Three of the proposals for the underground facility would cut concrete paths into the grassy foundation with stone and glass retaining walls. The paths in two plans would lead directly to the underground facility, while another plan would lead visitors to a short tunnel running underneath the mound and leading to the facility.
A fourth option would burrow a ramp into the circular, concrete plaza surrounding the base of the monument, which would lead underground.
Commission members praised this option, which preserves the grassy knoll without erecting an aboveground facility.
The ramp still would require some sort of wall, however, to prevent people from falling into the screening center.
