Results tagged “memorials”

The D.C. Department of Public Works finally got back to us on our question about what will be done with the 22 brand new ghost bikes that have been placed around the intersection of Connecticut and R Streets NW by activist Legba Carrefour ... kinda. Here's the boilerplate statement we received via email from DPW spokesperson Linda Grant:

"... the DC Department of Public Works is responsible for removing sidewalk memorials, which usually recognize residents who have died unexpectedly, and includes anything from flowers and stuffed animals to empty bottles of alcohol and bicycles. After 30 days, DPW removes all memorial items found at the site. As part of our policy, a sign is posted at the memorial to notify family and friends that they have 30 days to remove any personal effects."

This is a bit of a bogus response. The original Alice Swanson ghost bike was allowed to remain where it was for over a year before DPW removed it, so there are clearly exceptions to this 30 day rule. But what are they, and how are they applied? Not to mention, these 22 ghost bikes could very easily be interpreted as not being memorials to Alice Swanson, but rather protest art pieces to the action of city government in removing the original bike. Could not then DPW use that definition as a pretense to remove the new crop of bikes before 30 days is up?

Slated to open on September 11, 2011, construction on the National September 11 Memorial & Museum on the grounds of the World Trade Center is currently underway. Residents in the District have an opportunity to contribute to the construction in an early christening event: a steal beam–signing ceremony.

If you’ve been down to the Tidal Basin to see the Cherry Blossoms, then you’ve probably already revisited the Jefferson Memorial.

Now here’s an interesting development: the Vietnam Veterans Memorial has gone online. Again.

The Christopher Columbus memorial fountain at Columbus Circle in front of Union Station is, like so many of the monuments in D.C., under appreciated. When we asked a man leaning against the marble what he thought about it, if he liked it, all he did was shrug his shoulders and say, “Eh.”

What’s weird about revisiting the Albert Einstein Memorial at the National Academy of Sciences is, shamefully, that we had never visited there in the first place.

Remember when officials at Arlington National Cemetery were trying to replace the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with a brand new, replica tomb? Well it looks like the the National Trust for Historic Preservation was successful in its campaign to save the original monument, at least for a while.