Norton Files National Mall Revitalization Bill as 1st Significant Funding In Omnibus Bill (3/11/09)
Norton Files National Mall Revitalization Bill as First Significant Funding Included in Omnibus Bill Just Passed
March 11, 2009
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) this morning met with officials from the National Park Service for a briefing on the status of the National Mall Plan, which will hold public meetings today as Norton reintroduced the National Mall Revitalization and Redesignation Act. The bill would provide improved amenities such as clean, flushable, convenient toilets, tables and chairs for lunch, and improved lighting and other safety measures. The bill also would give the National Capital Planning Commission authority to designate all areas that are part of the National Mall, and would require the Secretary of the Interior to submit a plan to enhance cultural and other visitor-oriented activities on the stretch of property whose museums are a centerpiece of tourism in the nation's capital. Norton, who has spent years trying to alert the Congress to the deterioration of the Mall, worked with appropriators who put funds for the Mall in the omnibus bill, which is on its way to President Obama for signature. She said the Mall should have places to rest in the shade, cafés, live entertainment from local and national artists, refreshments, and other cultural offerings inviting visitors not only to visit the cultural sites that border the Mall, but also to sit and enjoy the park. "The recent historic inauguration, which drew a record crowd to the Mall, shows how a national treasure can degenerate in plain sight," Norton said.
Norton requested and got the first hearing on the National Mall last session before the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, chaired by Chairman Rep. Raul Grijavlva (D-AZ). The Congresswoman requested that the hearing coincide with the comment period on the plans of federal agencies charged with creating a new vision for a 21st century Mall, and worked closely with the National Capital Planning Commission and the National Park Service on today's bill.
Although direct funding for the National Mall was removed from the final stimulus bill, a portion of the $135 million in the final bill for repairs in the national park system is likely to be available for the National Mall, as well as for neighborhood National Park Service parks in the District. The Mall Revitalization and Redesignation Act is the first step in an effort to focus Congress on finally giving the Mall its due after decades of neglect and indifference.
The Congresswoman also said she is pleased that Chip Akridge and the Trust for the National Mall have embarked upon an ambitious fundraising effort to bring the private sector into the revitalization of the National Mall.