Pennsylvania Avenue faulted on upkeep
BY LOS ANGELES TIMES
Sunday, October 07, 2012
10/07/12 at 5:53 AM
WASHINGTON - Add Pennsylvania Avenue, the president's street, to the list of America's troubled spots.
The famed street between the U.S. Capitol and the White House has "fallen into disrepair," according to the Cultural Landscape Foundation, which placed the avenue on its list of a dozen threatened landscapes around the country.
Benches are falling apart, trees have been cut down, water fountains often don't work, and "unsightly security planters" litter the avenue, according to the group dedicated to raising awareness of important landscapes.
The poor report card on the avenue - the route of the inaugural parade and designated a national historic site in 1965 - is the latest black eye for the nation's capital.
Budget cuts have delayed repairs of 1,300 cracks in the Capitol dome. A thick layer of green algae has forced the National Park Service to drain the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial after a $34-million renovation project. And the Washington Monument will remain closed for at least a year for earthquake repairs.
The stretch in front of the White House was closed to vehicles after the 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City.
Original Print Headline: Pennsylvania Avenue listed in disrepair
