Private donors sought for $350M in Mall repairs

Crumbling pathways, poor sidewalk drainage, old and too few restrooms, damaged benches, dirt where grass should be and eroding seawalls around the Tidal Basin walkway are some of the problems identified by NPS.

To avoid dependence on congressional appropriations and to speed up the restoration process, NPS will partner with the nonprofit Trust for the National Mall.

The Trust will raise private funds from corporate, foundation and private donors, along with matching funds from $100 million that President Bush wants to allocate annually for national parks.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C. Democrat, lamented the absence of tables and chairs, and food options.

“[The Mall] is unworthy of the world-class Mall intended by the Founding Fathers and L’Enfant, and unworthy of the world-class city we’ve become,” Norton said during a news conference at the Department of the Interior on Thursday.

The priority projects identified by the Trust include converting the boarded-up Lockkeeper’s House at 17th and Constitution into a visitors center, repairing Tidal Basin seawalls, and creating a planning document.

“We are hoping to make concrete improvements that the public can see within a year,” the Trust’s spokeswoman, Caroline Cunningham, said.

National Mall and Memorial Parks Superintendent Peggy O’Dell said the park service will seek public guidance on restoration priorities this spring.

The Trust has received a $1.1 million matching grant from Congress already, to put up new signs on the Mall, update maps and increase accessibility for non-English speakers. A number of the maps posted along the Mall are outdated, missing the Korean War, Roosevelt and World War II memorials.