Both the Post and the Examiner have stories covering testimony provided by D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, among others, to a congressional subcommittee yesterday about the state of the National Mall.

“We should all be ashamed” of what the average Mall visitor sees, Norton told the panel. “There’s no great national park that suffers from this kind of neglect.” Norton introduced a bill last year to revitalize the Mall.

Anyone who spends time on the National Mall knows what Norton is talking about: trampled, dead grass, mud, cracked sidewalks, dying trees and a lack of basic facilities like bathrooms or shaded areas for tourists to rest in.

John E. “Chip” Akridge also testified, calling the state of the Mall a “disgrace” and estimating that it has accumulated about $350 million in deferred maintenance and needs about $100 million in building repairs and upgrades for better food and restroom facilities.

The National Park Service is expected to complete its 50-year National Mall plan by the end of this year. In the meantime, officials are also once again worrying about safety issues on the Mall after a stabbing there over the weekend. Twelve people were attacked on the National Mall in the summer of 2006, but crime in the area was relatively quiet last summer.

Photo by erin_m