Restoration work shores up Washington Monument

Restoration work on the Washington Monument in Baltimore's Mount Vernon Square was nerve-wracking and painstaking, but well worth the wait.

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The Washington Monument is the spot to which Baltimore turns every holiday season for a spectacular light display, but it is also a place of national significance. When the cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1815, it became the first public memorial to honor George Washington.

But sometimes even a masterpiece needs a touchup. There are thousands of pieces of marble on the structure, and most had some kind of damage from age or deterioration or constant use. Ultimately, the restoration team has had to replace only about three of the stones.

"Every time they lift one of the 1,000-pound pieces of stone, it's just a little nerve-wracking," said Lance Humphries, the historian leading a $5.5 million monument restoration project for the Mount Vernon Place Conservancy.

Since work began in January, Humphries has been standing by as crews lift and reposition nearly every piece of marble all the way up to the statue of George Washington.

"It just shows that we care about these things which are important to the city," Humphries said. "This is a symbol of our city."

The team has also shored up and repointed the entire structure, replacing thousands of rusted-out iron support brackets, the staples holding it all together, with stainless steel. The crews have installed new electrical systems, including power for the holiday lights, and finally fixed the roof, which had been leaking since the 1840s.

Last week, crews were in the home stretch of their battle against 200 years of water damage and delayed maintenance. The bulk of the work that remains is on the inside. The historic stucco and plaster finishes in the public space have been hiding private messages from the past for the last two centuries.

"One of our earliest discoveries were the signatures in the basement from 1819 to 1829, probably just tourists who came here," Humphries said.

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Restoration work shores up Washington Monument