It’s a long way down. Photo by Mike Kandel.

It’s a long way down. Photo by Mike Kandel.

A temporary outage of the elevator that sends people 500 feet up inside the newly reopened Washington Monument meant some visitors had to walk down the 897 steps.

“The elevator at the Washington Monument temporarily stopped functioning this morning 10:53 a.m.,” a statement from the National Park Service says. “The 18 visitors in the elevator were able to disembark on the ground level. There were 61 visitors at the observation level at the time of the stoppage. All were evacuated safely. The elevator contractor was contacted and the elevator was put back into service at 12:25 p.m. The contractor is at the site trying to determine the cause of the stoppage and to resolve any issues with the elevator.”

“The elevator at the Washington Monument, like the elevators at our other sites, is heavily used and like any mechanical system is subject to breakdown,” Carol Johnson, spokeswoman for the National Mall and Memorial Parks, said “Our staff is well trained to handle period outages like this one to en ensure the safety of our visitors, as they did today.”

Some of the affected visitors shared their stories on Twitter.

The Monument reopened Monday after nearly 1,000 days of earthquake repairs. During a media tour Saturday, where the restoration was highlighted, DCist was momentarily delayed by an elevator fix. NPS will “attempt to accommodate all visitors who were unable to get into the Monument at their ticketed times,” according to a release. Eventually, NPS says, tours down the stairs will be offered — on purpose.

Update: Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton spoke to the NPS about the outage.

“I was surprised by an elevator mishap at the Washington Monument so soon after the terrific reopening of the Monument on Monday,” Norton said. “I spoke with NPS Superintendent Robert Vogel, who assured me that the Washington Monument elevator is operationally safe and that the breakdown was an issue with the door. I was relieved to learn that the elevator was refurbished during the restoration, was certified last week, and was up and running again not long after today’s breakdown. However, this appears to be a unique elevator in the District, in that it is in operation 13 hours a day, seven days a week because there is room for only one elevator in the Monument. The elevator was installed new in 2001, and with its frequency of use, one has to wonder about the lifespan of such an elevator. This elevator is perhaps more important to the city than any other because the Monument is a big draw for tourism and this elevator transports tourists and residents up for D.C.’s best view. As NPS moves forward and learns more precisely what happened today, I am asking that they take into account the burden placed on the elevator and what can be done to eliminate breakdowns in the future.”

Filed Under: exercise, washington monument,