Dear National Coalition to Save Our Mall Members and Friends:
Our State of the Mall Event at the Washington Monument on Monday, October 14th, was a great success. Thanks to all of you who participated, helped in the preparations, and contributed in other ways.
It was a glorious clear and sunny day, if unusually chilly and windy. About 50 people and several members of the television and print media were present. Fox 5 T.V. started the day by carrying a live interview with Chairman Judy Scott Feldman at 8:15am that morning.
Dr. Feldman first gave a 30-minute tour of the L’Enfant and McMillan Plan which ended as we all saw the devastating view of the construction at the blockaded WWII Memorial site.
We then released the State of the Mall report to the press and to our friends and any interested citizens gathered.
We do invite everyone to download and read the 22-page Report this is now posted on the website. You’ll need Adobe Acrobat to do so. Please feel free to provide this link to other friends and relevant agencies and citizen groups.
The Report outlines the Mall’s historic plans. It lists the numerous threats to it, including overbuilding, new memorials, and security walls. It lists our recommendations for solving these problems and for assuring future protection of the Mall. And it outlines the National Coalition’s plans to “Take the Mall on the Road” around the country among other plans to educate the Congress, government agencies, and the public about the Mall’s unique place in American culture.
We are also mailing and hand-delivering copies of this Report to members of the media and to government agencies and commissions with oversight of the Mall.
Finally, we are very disappointed to update you on the legal front. There is sad news. We’ve learned that the Supreme Court denied our Writ of Certiorari last week. We had hoped against hope, knowing full well that the Court accepts very few of the thousands of cases it receives each session. We still believe that Public Law 107-11 is unconstitutional and that it sets a dangerous precedent in stepping into an ongoing lawsuit to decide our case. However, we have done all that we could.
We thank all of you who attended our State of the Mall Event and those who helped out in other ways. Now we’ll be working on implementing our plans that will be highlighted in our Second Annual report next October.
Tags: Washington Monument
