The 2018 National Christmas Tree.

skybeing / Flickr

The lights are off (literally and figuratively) at a number of national historic sites and parks around the region thanks to the federal government shutdown.

Perhaps most glaringly, the festive bulbs on the National Christmas Tree lost their luminosity after a man climbed the Colorado blue spruce on Friday and damaged it. The shutdown made it much more complicated to do repairs, and the whole tree was cordoned off as part of a wave of closures.

After a weekend of disappointed holiday visitors, though, the gates were unlocked on Monday thanks to a donation from the National Parks Foundation. The lights are set to return Monday afternoon.

But that’s not the case for more than a dozen other sites operated by the National Park Service around the region—the Frederick Douglass House, Ford’s Theatre, and the White House Visitor Center among them—that had to shut their doors. Sorry hikers and history buffs: the entrance roads to Great Falls Park and Fort Washington Park are also closed to visitors.

With the National Park Service’s contingency plan in place, most open-air monuments and memorials are still accessible. Visitors won’t find helpful rangers, visitor services, or public bathrooms (there are some port-a-potties on the National Mall, though). And the trash may or may not be collected; the D.C. government is among several institutions that have said they’ll pitch in.

But facilities that are operated by third-party vendors or have special agreements in place are still open. That means you can still play golf or tennis at East Potomac, Langston, and Rock Creek. Thanks to an agreement with Montgomery County, Glen Echo Park remains open.

The Smithsonian museums and National Zoo are operating using funds from the past fiscal year. If the shutdown lasts beyond January 1, though, they’ll close). The National Gallery of Art is also staying open using prior fund; it says that what happens should the shutdown continue into 2019 remains to be determined.

The Kennedy Center will remain open for all its scheduled performances, but the building’s public hours are curtailed.

The National Archives are a no-go, while the Library of Congress is open.

Meanwhile, D.C.’s government remains completely open thanks to an annual provision in recent federal spending bills, so all city services should be working as normal. The District’s marketing arm didn’t waste any time in reminding visitors that there is still plenty to do around town, resurrecting the “DC is Open” campaign that it developed during the 2013 shutdown. DCist also has you covered for events and concerts this week, along with free and discounted food for federal workers.

CLOSED: 

  • National Archives

  • Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument

  • Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site

  • Clara Barton National Historic Site

  • Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site (Ford’s Theatre Society will continue to offer performances in the theater as scheduled)

  • Fort Marcy

  • Fort Washington Park entrance road and visitor center

  • Frederick Douglass National Historic Site

  • Great Falls (Md.) entrance road and visitor center

  • Old Post Office Tower

  • Olmsted Island/Great Falls Overlook (Md.)

  • Great Falls (Va.) entrance road and visitor center

  • Hains Point

  • Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens

  • Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site

  • Oxon Hill Farm

  • Peirce Mill

  • Rock Creek Park Nature Center and Planetarium

  • Turkey Run Park (gated areas)

  • White House Visitor Center

NPS also notes that the Arlington House and Robert E. Lee Memorial were already closed for rehabilitation, the elevators in the Washington Monument have been out of commission for a long while, and the Rock Creek golf course was closed for the season.

THE BATHROOM SITUATION ON THE MALL:

All public restrooms are closed. But you’ll be able to find port-a-potties on the south side of the Lincoln Memorial, at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, at the Tidal Basin (between the Martin Luther King, Jr. and Franklin Delano Roosevelt memorials), around 15th Street on the Washington Monument grounds, at West Potomac Park (between Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial and Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial), and the World War II Memorial. 

OPEN: 

  • The D.C. government
  • National Zoo (until January 1)
  • All Smithsonian museums (until January 1)
  • National Gallery of Art (TBD after January 1)
  • Library of Congress
  • Kennedy Center (but take note of different public hours)
  • Food kiosk and concessions on the National Mall, except those at the Ellipse Visitor Pavilion and in the basement of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial
  • Bookstores at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Washington Monument Lodge, and the Old Stone House in Georgetown.
  • East Potomac and Langston golf courses
  • East Potomac and Rock Creek tennis centers
  • Glen Echo Park
  • The Women in Military Service for America Memorial
  • All marinas on national park land in the D.C. region (Belle Haven, James Creek, Columbia Island, Washington Sailing Marina, Fort Washington Marina)
  • A bunch of construction projects will also continue as planned (Arlington House rehabilitation, Arlington Memorial Bridge rehabilitation, Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park Locks, Conococheague Aqueduct, Dyke Marsh restoration, Lincoln Memorial roof replacement, National Mall and Memorial Parks water line, Beach Drive Reconstruction, United States Park Police District 1 Substation, Washington Monument elevator modernization/screening facility, and Windy Run Bridge rehabilitation)
Filed Under: federal shutdown 2018, government shutdown,