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After $15M in repairs, Washington Monument Reopens

National Park Service reopens iconic monument nearly three years after August 2011 earthquake.

Federal News Network Staff

May 12, 2014 3:52 pm

< a min read

Come On In The Washington Monument reopened to the public on Monday, May 12, 2014. The monument was closed since August 2011, when a 5.8-magnitude earthquake shook the Washington, D.C. region and damaged the monument.

Repairs cost $15 million, with Congress allocating $7.5 million and David Rubenstein, co-founder and co-CEO of The Carlyle Group, donating the remaining $7.5 million.

Dignitaries gathered on the Mall on Monday to cut the ribbon and proclaim the monument officially open.

TODAY Show Co-anchor Al Roker was the master of ceremonies, and Candice Glover, the 2013 winner of "American Idol," sang "America the Beautiful."
Other musical entertainment was provided by the U.S. Navy Ceremonial Band; The U.S. Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps; and the Washington National Cathedral Choir.

Here, Roker hangs out with the Washington Monument mascot, before the start of the ceremony.

(Photo by Michael O'Connell/Federal News Radio)

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