Restoration of the D.C. War Memorial
Restoration of the D.C. War Memorial
The District of Columbia War Memorial, which was constructed in 1931 to honor the District residents who served and died in World War I, was restored to its place of importance on the National Mall while continuing its historic use as a venue for concerts and other special events.
Originally intended to be a bandstand, deferred maintenance had caused the D.C. World War I Memorial, located in Ash Woods just east of the Korean War Memorial, to be deemed unusable.
The undertaking entailed the conservation and selected restoration of the marble structure, and the restoration and/or rehabilitation of the walkways leading to and around the memorial. Restoration included cleaning and removal of general and biological soiling, calcium crusts and brown floor stain, blue-green copper stain, orange-red stains, old paint and water repellent that have collected or been applied to the Memorial. The project also included re-establishment of the historic character of the vegetation around the Memorial. All of these updates allow for a beautiful, more accessible, and safer memorial.
The District of Columbia War Memorial project was funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
