News Release

Washington Monument to reopen October 1

National Park Service photo

News Release Date: September 28, 2020

Contact: Mike Litterst, [phone]

WASHINGTON – The Washington Monument will reopen to the public on Thursday, Oct. 1, at 9 a.m. after a six-month closure. The monument will be open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with a new set of safety and cleaning procedures to keep staff and visitors safe from the spread of infectious diseases. Tickets will be available online starting Sept. 30.

In order to promote physical distancing and reduce queuing for tickets, tickets for the Washington Monument will be available online only from recreation.gov; there will be no tickets distributed on site. Tickets become available daily at 10 a.m. for the next day’s visits (for example, if you are planning to visit on Oct. 5, you can reserve tickets at recreation.gov beginning at 10 a.m. on Oct. 4). Each ticket is good for up to four individuals in a group traveling together. There is a non-refundable reservation fee of $1.50 per ticket.

In accordance with local and federal requirements, including Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and U.S. Public Health recommendations, a comprehensive safety program has been implemented that includes timed ticketing, limited entries, physical distancing, and additional cleaning and safety measures to ensure the health and safety of visitors and employees. These measures include:
 

• Significantly reduced elevator capacity, limiting trips to 4-8 passengers to allow for physical distancing.
• A policy that requires face coverings for all individuals while inside the monument to account for physical distance limitations.
• Touchless check-in.
• Touchless hand sanitizer dispensers throughout the monument.
• Time limit at 500’ observation level of 10 minutes per group, and
• A closure each day from 1 to 2 p.m. for cleaning and disinfecting using antiviral disinfectant cleaners recommended by the CDC and registered with the Environmental Protection Agency.

-NPS-