The Transformation of the National Mall
Today, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I decided to run to the MLK, Jr. Memorial on the National Mall. It's a seven-mile round-trip run, which is a nice distance. I forgot that the mall is in a state of transition as the city prepares for the inauguration of our incoming president, Donald Trump. (I had to pause before I typed his name.) The transformations are beyond what I ever imagined. Here are pictures of what the mall looked liked this afternoon.
Here you have the Capitol. The inaugural stage is all set. The flags are hung. Yesterday they had a rehearsal for the inauguration. It sounds like it's a done deal. It's really going to happen. There was a tremendous police presence at the Capitol today. No one was smiling, either. Very serious business to guard the Capitol right now. (I did see a police officer get a hug, but otherwise, everyone was much more serious than I normally see in Washington.)
There are tents everywhere, equipment and supplies. The mall is actually unrecognizable as our National Mall right now.
More equipment and machinery.
At first I thought that the city had put a skating rink onto the mall. I'm wrong. This is plastic flooring, which is covering all of the central green space in the mall. I presume this is because the National Park Service just renovated the lawns and they would otherwise be stampeded by the thousands of people in attendance at the inauguration. Also, the plastic flooring is the base on which temporary buildings are being erected.
Here's what flooring looks like when it is stacked - something like 4x6' rectangles with interlocking edges.
This is the most outrageous thing that I saw on the mall - a temporary building sprung up! This is along 14th Street, NW, on the opposite side of the street from the Washington Monument. Then I saw this next picture behind the temporary building...
...another temporary building going up! I had no idea that so many temporary buildings were erected for the inauguration. I guess they do need a place to fit all of important people in attendance...?
When you have this many people, you are going to need a lot of porta potties. They have taken care of that, too. Did you read this story about the porta potties? Too funny. I could say more, but for once, I will not digress.
This is one time that our new president cannot communicate with us solely via Twitter. There are lots of speakers placed around the mall so that everyone can hear the man!
Then there was this on the mall. A woman was hanging out near by, passing out flyers - trying to have her own peaceful moment on the mall. Oh, good luck, to her!
I did make it to the MLK Jr. Memorial and it was inspiring. What an honor to be there, ever. What an honor to be there on MLK Day. And, what an honor to be there this year, in the wake of the shootings of blacks and African Americans, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the tremendous fear that so many minorities feel as a new president takes office and our first black leader leaves office.
The day felt bleak. The overcast skies seemed to issue a warning and strange scenes on the mall made everything seem even more surreal than I ever could have imaged. So, I'll end on this more positive note. I stopped and took this picture of a stage on the south side of the Washington Monument. I just couldn't help myself. I mean, doesn't this look like the perfect place for a community band concert? Yah. I think so, too.
Here you have the Capitol. The inaugural stage is all set. The flags are hung. Yesterday they had a rehearsal for the inauguration. It sounds like it's a done deal. It's really going to happen. There was a tremendous police presence at the Capitol today. No one was smiling, either. Very serious business to guard the Capitol right now. (I did see a police officer get a hug, but otherwise, everyone was much more serious than I normally see in Washington.)
There are tents everywhere, equipment and supplies. The mall is actually unrecognizable as our National Mall right now.
More equipment and machinery.
At first I thought that the city had put a skating rink onto the mall. I'm wrong. This is plastic flooring, which is covering all of the central green space in the mall. I presume this is because the National Park Service just renovated the lawns and they would otherwise be stampeded by the thousands of people in attendance at the inauguration. Also, the plastic flooring is the base on which temporary buildings are being erected.
Here's what flooring looks like when it is stacked - something like 4x6' rectangles with interlocking edges.
This is the most outrageous thing that I saw on the mall - a temporary building sprung up! This is along 14th Street, NW, on the opposite side of the street from the Washington Monument. Then I saw this next picture behind the temporary building...
...another temporary building going up! I had no idea that so many temporary buildings were erected for the inauguration. I guess they do need a place to fit all of important people in attendance...?
When you have this many people, you are going to need a lot of porta potties. They have taken care of that, too. Did you read this story about the porta potties? Too funny. I could say more, but for once, I will not digress.
This is one time that our new president cannot communicate with us solely via Twitter. There are lots of speakers placed around the mall so that everyone can hear the man!
Then there was this on the mall. A woman was hanging out near by, passing out flyers - trying to have her own peaceful moment on the mall. Oh, good luck, to her!
I did make it to the MLK Jr. Memorial and it was inspiring. What an honor to be there, ever. What an honor to be there on MLK Day. And, what an honor to be there this year, in the wake of the shootings of blacks and African Americans, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the tremendous fear that so many minorities feel as a new president takes office and our first black leader leaves office.
The day felt bleak. The overcast skies seemed to issue a warning and strange scenes on the mall made everything seem even more surreal than I ever could have imaged. So, I'll end on this more positive note. I stopped and took this picture of a stage on the south side of the Washington Monument. I just couldn't help myself. I mean, doesn't this look like the perfect place for a community band concert? Yah. I think so, too.
Comments
Post a Comment