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August 20, 2001
Mr. Edward Winkel
Acting Chief
U.S. Park Police
1100 Ohio Drive, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20242
Dear Chief Winkel:
This is to ask for your assurances that public concerns about security and safety in and around the World War II Memorial have been resolved before construction begins on August 27, or soon thereafter, at the Rainbow Pool site. The National Park Service and federal review agencies have failed to publicly address these issues and so they remain open questions:
SAFETY AND SECURITY
- A long ramp leads from 17th Street down into the Memorial plaza, with no provision for bollards or other obstacle that would stop a vehicle;
- Large gatherings of people inside the subterranean, enclosed plaza could be subject to a panicked "wave effect" and injury;
- Air vents over the pump stations could become a draw for homeless people;
- In summer the subterranean granite enclosure would trap heat and block breezes, creating an oven-like environment dangerous for children or the elderly;
- A special policeman will be required to patrol the subterranean granite plaza, since the site is distant from the patrol that covers the Lincoln memorial and Vietnam and Korean veterans memorials.
FLOODING
- The WWII Memorial will be built in a 25 year flood plain and will prone to frequent and sometimes catastrophic flooding;
- NPS has indicated that the subterranean memorial plaza will serve as a sump during flooding events, potentially endangering visitors to the Memorial and the Mall;
- Global warming will only aggravate the flooding problem in coming years and decades.
TRANSPORTATION AND TRAFFIC
- NPS stated in its 1998 Environmental Assessment that there will be no problem with tour bus traffic, so long as one bus arrives at the Memorial site about every ten minutes. Who will control the extra buses lined up on 17th Street? What is to prevent buses from lining up along 17th Street and interfering with traffic on this major rush-hour artery?
- 17th Street will become a construction site for three years. Who will control traffic in and around the area?
- The helicopter landing site, now at the Rainbow Pool, will be moved across 17th Street onto the Washington Monument grounds (the first plan was rejected by the Commission of Fine Arts last fall, but it will have to be resubmitted, since the helicopter landing site is part of the MOA for the WWII Memorial Section 106 process). How will this new use affect pedestrian access to this part of the Mall? How will the additional traffic and the necessary security and emergency equipment affect traffic on 17th Street?
MAINTENANCE
- NPS does not have the funds or personnel to properly maintain the Mall -- parts of the Mall are restricted to visitors to permit recovery of the grass. How will it handle the additional responsibilities of more pedestrians, more security needs, more maintenance of the landscape and of the complex Memorial which includes, in addition to the Memorial plaza, a new road, parking, a separate contemplative area, and two new buildings, including public toilets?
These concerns have repeatedly been brought before the NPS, the federal review agencies, and Mr. John Parsons of the NPS who is working directly with the Memorialıs sponsor, the American Battle Monuments Commission. We hope that you will be able to find the answers and so quell the publicıs unease.
Please consult our website for history, facts, pictures, and media coverage of the controversial WWII Memorial: http://www.savethemall.org.
Thank you very much for your attention to this most urgent matter. Please feel free to call me if you have questions, at 301-340-3938.
Yours truly,
Judy Scott Feldman, Ph.D.
Co-Chair
cc. President George W. Bush
Secretary Gayle Norton
Director Fran Mainella
Terry Carlstrom, National Capital Central
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