Cultural Landscape Report for the Washington Monument Grounds

John Milner Associates, Inc.; Grunley-Walsh Joint Venture

The following is the Executive Summary (ES) requested originally by the National Park Service (NPS) in the 2007 scope of work for the “Revision and Completion of Washington Monument Cultural Landscape Report” (CLR). The NPS subsequently developed the ES to provide an explanation for the delay in publishing the CLR. The NPS also wished to provide a description of the existing conditions of the Washington Monument Grounds and updated visual documentation (including maps, drawings, and photographs) of the area. The NPS initiated the CLR process in 2002 to provide treatment recommendations for a portion of the Washington Monument Grounds, also known as Reservation 2. The study area for the CLR was limited to the area immediately surrounding the monument. John Milner Associates, Inc. (JMA) completed the first draft of the Washington Monument Cultural Landscape Report (CLR) in 2003 in association with Grunley-Walsh Joint Venture. The project did not reach completion at this point because of professional differences of opinion between the NPS and JMA. In September 2007, the NPS developed an updated scope of work that called for a new assessment of existing conditions in addition to revisions of fact, spelling, and style. JMA revised the CLR in 2008 in accordance with the final set of comments provided by the NPS in 2003. They did not update the existing conditions as defined in the 2007 scope of work. JMA’s final submission provided the NPS with a draft (2007) and a revised version of the CLR (2008), which did not include the updated conditions assessment or final proofing for publication. The completion in 2009 of the Washington Monument Grounds Cultural Landscape Inventory (CLI) that documented all of Reservation #2 with an updated existing conditions assessment made it necessary to revise the ES of the CLR. The ES incorporates information from all previous documents for final publication. Endnotes in the CLR identify information that has been amended in the ES. The ES consolidates the information from the 2003 CLR and the 2009 CLI. Differences between information in the CLR and the CLI are reflected in the remainder of this summary. The information included is the most current and thorough possible. The primary difference between the two is that the CLR describes the conditions before the implementation of the approved 2002 landscape design concept developed by Olin Partnership. In addition, the CLR does not include the South Monument Grounds (the area south of present-day Independence Avenue) within the study.

Cultural Landscape Report for the Washington Monument Grounds

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