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Thursday, May 3, 2012

National Mall ready to take on new look

National Mall restoration moves forward

National Mall restoration moves forward

By Sarah Krouse

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Washington Business Journal

The heads of the Interior Department and National Park Service signed a final plan for the restoration and improvement of the National Mall on Tuesday, setting the vision for the 684 acres known as America’s front yard.

The plan, inked at a ceremony overlooking the Tidal Basin near the steps of the Jefferson Memorial, will act as a “road map” for the National Mall, Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar said.

The framework identifies 30 goals for public access, health, natural resources and visitor education. Those objectives include preserving the Mall’s monuments and memorials; improving the area’s water, trees and soil; and keeping the national Mall as a “venue for first Amendment demonstrations and national celebrations” and a “role model in sustainable urban park development, resource protection and management.”

The project will be completed in phasing as funding comes available. The necessary improvements totaled over $400 million when planners first began working on the plan in 2006.

The highest priority projects in the plan include:

-- Improving the design and redevelopment of Union Square in front of the Capitol, including the restoration of the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial.

-- Removing the gravel and aging walkways along the Mall and replacing them with better walkways that include coordinated, sustainable, low-maintenance paving materials.

-- Restoring trees, specifically the elm trees along the Mall and the street trees along Madison and Jefferson Drive.

-- Creating a computerized permit system for the Mall.

-- Rebuilding the Tidal Basin seawalls and replacing walkways.

-- Improving access to the Tidal Basin area.

-- Creating a visitors center at the Washington Monument.

The planning effort for the document started in 2006 and required the approval of 17 federal organizations.

At the signing, the Trust for the National Mall, a nonprofit started by developer Chip Akridge, announced a recycling partnership with The Coca-Cola Co. The Atlanta-based soft drink company will invest $500,000 on 320 recycling bins along the Mall as well as two trailers with 400 more bins each for special events. The company will also roll out a recycling education trailer at major rallies and events.

Akridge first approached Coca-Cola before the January 2009 presidential inauguration to help deal with the onslaught of visitors — and their waste.
“Our immediate response was intense interest,” said Steve Cahillane, president and CEO of Coca-Cola Refreshments.

The blue bins, which do not contain the Coca-Cola logo because of advertising restrictions along the Mall, have already been installed.

“This was not about branding, it was about doing the right thing,” Cahillane said.

Akridge anticipates the trust will foster more partnerships like the Coca-Cola one now that the framework has been finalized.

“This is fairly unique,” he said of the recycling partnership. “It’s certainly never been done on the Mall before.”

The trust, which was created to improve the deteriorating Mall, is currently working on a partnership with smart phone companies that would involve applications to educate visitors about the Mall.

“The American people can't stand by and let the National Mall continue to be a national disgrace,” Akridge said during the ceremony. “We will achieve the goal of making the National Mall the best park in the world.”

To see the original story, visit http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2010/11/09/national-mall-restoration-moves-forward.html