Who cares who is at fault, the point is to fix the problem. Are we going to waste more time on "what had happened was" or move toward a solution to the problem.
When my son and I went to Disneyland and he saw Cinderella's castle he was devastated that it was in such disrepair. We just determined that Mickey and Minnie were slum lords. Luckily, Mick and Minn have found a couple of gallons of paint.
Sometimes we overuse stuff and it just gets old. OK, now that we know that, LET'S JUST FIX IT!
A Mall Overhaul
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Last Thursday, the National Capital Planning Commission and U.S. Commission of Fine Arts unveiled a draft for a long-term plan to redesign the city's "monumental core," encompassing the areas immediately surrounding the Mall. The plan would constitute the most ambitious re-imagining of the capital's iconic center since a group of politicians led by Sen. James McMillan of Michigan updated the original in 1902. The new framework calls for developers to reduce stress on the Mall by integrating the downtown area with the nearby waterfront. The plan would allow striking thoroughfares and well-developed public transport to connect the space--and envisions future memorials, museums, shops and restaurants to enliven the otherwise bureaucratic urban landscape. The plan is open for public comment until Oct. 10.
The biggest obstacle, of course, is cost. Although the NCPC projects will be spread out over the next 50 years and doesn't carry a concrete price tag yet, the cost of redevelopment will inevitably be astronomical. But planners say the time is ripe for investment. They cite urban-planning concerns like sustainability and the need to attract a smart, young workforce. And they recognize that they're running out of room for one of the Mall's key functions--hosting memorials. At present, the Mall is home to more than 70, and several more were grandfathered in before Congress barred any more--arguing in the Reserve Act of 2003 that any future memorials will need to be built elsewhere.
"We've got marching orders from Congress that we can't put new commemorative memorials on the Mall. But the National Mall provides a forum for a national narrative, so we have to find a way to grow that quality elsewhere as well," says Thomas Luebke, secretary of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts. "At the same time, the real-estate district downtown has been so successful that significant market pressure will allow private investment to play a large role [in the development], taking the pressure off federal funding."
D.C. developer John E. (Chip) Akridge last November created a vehicle to address the Mall's immediate needs, starting the Trust for the National Mall as the nonprofit partner of the National Park Service. Modeling his group on New York's Central Park Conservancy, he's aiming to raise $500 million. With more than $2 million already in the bank, the trust has handed over $277,000 for its first project: informational signs pointing visitors to sites around the Mall, which are slated to be in place by September.
"It's great to think about what it'll look like in 50 years, but I want to know what it'll be like in the next five years," says Caroline Cunningham, president of the trust. "If we wait any longer, I'm afraid that it just won't happen. For every year we don't do something, the costs [in deferred maintenance] go up exponentially."
The Bush administration agrees. Officials independently created a $2.2 million public-private grant for the Mall this past April to get the ball rolling. Now, proponents are hoping the buzz around the NCPC's broad urban vision could help spur support for a $100 million appropriation for the Mall, recently recommended by a House subcommittee. That proposal, which would help jump-start some major improvements, is pending on Capitol Hill.
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