Federal arts panel rejects Park Service plan to label monuments in DC

Arts panel rejects labels for DC monuments

WASHINGTON — The Washington Monument and other memorials in the nation’s capital probably won’t get labels for confused visitors after all.

The National Park Service is backing away from a plan to add small stone labels to the major memorials on the National Mall after a federal arts panel rejected the idea.

On Thursday, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts voted down the measure, saying iconic monuments simply don’t need labels.

Park service research has shown many out-of-town visitors simply don’t know what they’re looking at when they see some of the monuments in D.C.

But members of the arts panel said the markings would clutter the mall with seemingly corporate signage. Commission member Pamela Nelson said they looked like “tombstones.”