WASHINGTON 鈥� The Washington Monument will remain closed聽indefinitely as officials continue to struggle with the elevator problems that have dogged the structure for years.
“We have not been able to determine the causes of the ongoing reliability issues,” said Mike Litterst, of the National Park Service, in a statement Monday. “As a result, we have made the difficult decision not to reopen the Washington Monument until we can modernize the elevator control system.”
After the monument was due to elevator problems three times in a five-day span, Litterst told WTOP, the park service was prompted to 鈥渃lose it down and spend some time getting in and 鈥� (giving) it a really thorough evaluation.鈥�
After that, the plan was to reopen the monument until a full-scale modernization could be done.
A group of independent consultants brought in to examine the elevator system聽couldn鈥檛 say exactly what was causing all the problems, Litterst said, and 鈥渢hey can鈥檛 guarantee that it鈥檚 not gonna keep happening,” so the park service made “the reluctant聽decision” to keep the monument closed until the modernization聽is finished.
The聽park service said last month that damage from the 2011 of the聽frequent breakdowns of the elevator system.
But a consultant has found聽no evidence that the earthquake contributed to the problems and that the problems leading to the shutdowns weren’t related, Litterst told WTOP.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just probably getting close to the end of its useful life,” he said.
The last time the monument’s elevator was fully modernized was after the shutdown from 1998 to 2001, Litterst said.
The tallest elevator in the District, it runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day, and from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the summer. It鈥檚 the only elevator in the monument, Litterst added, and 鈥渋t鈥檚 in constant use, which certainly adds to its stresses.鈥�
Litterst聽said an announcement of the possible duration of the closure, and the work to be done, would be announced in聽the next few聽weeks. He added, however, that 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have a firm time frame, but 鈥� it will be measured in months.鈥�
Litterst called the shutdown 鈥渢remendously frustrating鈥� for visitors, 鈥渂ut for the staff as well.鈥�
He added, 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking at a variety of ways to increase programming. 鈥� What other programs can we do? But of course it鈥檚 a disappointment not to go up.鈥�
WTOP’s Jamie Forzato contributed to this report.
