By Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON — (WMAL) The Washington Monument will remain closed through at least mid-September as the National Park Service tries to figure out why the elevator keeps breaking down.
The Washington Monument closed last Wednesday for repairs and was scheduled to re-open next week, but National Mall Spokesperson Mike Litterst said when they started doing the work, they realized it would be more extensive than they originally thought.
A few months ago they started modernizing the elevator’s computers and control system.
“Those systems date back to the mid-1990s, so you know, imagine you’ve got a new iphone, but you’re using a operating system from an old flip phone. That’s sort of what we’re up against,” said Litterst.
The upside, according to Litterst, is modernizing the elevator will get rid of most of the problems that have led to multiple breakdowns this summer alone. That work could force the monument to close for about nine months, but there is no timetable for when that closure will begin.
“We think it’s better to have it closed and modernized than to have episodic closings the way we’ve experienced this summer, and, frankly, over the last several years,” said Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton who met with NPS officials Wednesday.
She would like to see the repairs made before the height of the city’s tourist season next summer if possible.
The elevator overhaul is expected to cost between $2 and $3 million and will come from the Trust for the National Mall, a nonprofit partner of the NPS.
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