Dear Mr. Carlstrom:
During its meeting of 18 November 2004, the Commission was given a report on modifications that were recently made to the National World War II Memorial lighting fixtures. The members were very pleased to hear that these changes were made to improve the memorial’s illumination in response to their comments made after their last site inspection.
We also understand that last month the memorial was officially "transferred" to the Park Service from the American Battle Monuments Commission and now the Park Service is solely responsible for its care and management. In that regard, the members suggested an additional modification to the memorial to improve its appearance and to correct a possible safety problem for its visitors. The area that should be addressed as quickly as possible are the walkways that are adjacent to the outer edges of the curving colonnades of pillars. Currently, when visitors walk around the adjacent circumference of the memorial, they either walk single file on the narrow stone border at the base of the colonnade or are forced to walk in the grass area next to that border in what has become a rough dirt and muddy path. Expanding these walkways to allow several individuals to walk side-by-side should solve the problem. The paths could be widened by either increasing the width of the existing stone border or by adding a band of crushed stone to create a sufficiently wide walking path.
The Commission looks forward to reviewing the plans for any additional modifications to the memorial. As always, the staff is available should you require assistance.
Sincerely,
/s/Frederick J. Lindstrom
Acting Secretary
Mr. Terry R. Carlstrom
Regional Director
National Capital Region
National Park Service
1100 Ohio Drive, SW
Washington, DC 20242
cc: John G. Parsons, NPS
General John Herrling, ABMC
William B. Owenby, ABMC
