Photo by John Sonderman

This article has been updated.

Anybody who’s rolled by the Washington Monument this week has surely spotted that the scaffolding climbing up the obelisk ahead of a nearly two-year repair job to fix damage caused by the August 2011 earthquake is nearly topped out. Only the pyramidion at the top of the 555-foot-tall monument remains unsheathed, but that is expected to be completed in the next few weeks.

And once the monument is completely scaffolded, it won’t just clear the way for stonemasons from Massachusetts-based firm Perini Management Services to patch up the many cracks and fissures caused by the 5.8-magnitude temblor. Carol Ross Joynt of Washingtonian reports that the scaffolded monument will also be a luminescent addition to the D.C. skyline.

Following the installation of the last bits of scaffolding, workers will cover the construct in fabric and affix it with lights, which will be switched on in June, National Park Service spokeswoman Carol Johnson tells DCist. The effect should be similar to Michael Graves’ light-filled scaffolding that covered the monument during its last major repair job in 1999 and 2000.

Once again, the spire jutting out from the National Mall will brighten the evening. And it certainly is well timed. Graves’ work was on display for Washington’s millennium celebration, with the glowing monument as a centerpiece in a sea of fireworks. Assuming this lighting job is installed by June, this year’s July 4 fireworks might be a little bit more snazzy than usual.