Huge Glass Box to be Installed at the Washington Monument

WASHINGTON, DC — A gigantic glass box will soon encase the new Washington Monument visitor screening center based on plans submitted by the National Capital Planning Commission.

The National Park Service chose this design over many others, which would involve placing a permanent structure at the monument's entrance both to improve security and the flow of visitors.

The huge glass box would be 30 feet wide, 27 feet deep and 17 1/2 feet high, according to the document describing the project. The current security center was built in 2001 after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, and had always been envisioned as a temporary structure to be replaced with something more permanent.

This structure would be able to hold up to 25 visitors at a time.

The Washington Monument is closed right now until 2019 for an unrelated reason: extensive repairs are being made to its faulty elevator system.

Image via National Park Service