The Washington Monument will reopen this Wednesday after a six-month closure, according to the National Park Service.
The monument will welcome visitors every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and guests must reserve passes online with a non-refundable $1 fee. (One ticket secures four individual spots.) All individuals will be required to wear a mask inside the monument, regardless of vaccination status.
The National Park Service closed the monument in January 2021 as a part of security measures surrounding President Joe Biden’s inauguration, and kept it closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Wednesday’s reopening will mark the latest installment in a merry-go-round of closing and opening for the Washington Monument. It closed back in March 2020 as the coronavirus shut down nearly every D.C. landmark. The monument reopened in October, but was shut down in December after former Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt led a private tour and later tested positive for COVID-19. It reopened briefly, only to be shut down again January.
Before the pandemic-related closures, the monument was closed for two years after a 2011 earthquake left $15 million worth of repairs. In 2016, it closed again to address a faulty elevator and create a new security screening facility. It finally reopened to the public in September 2019, but then closed when the pandemic hit six months later.
Colleen Grablick