Associated Press, August 23, 1998: Washington Monument Security

Washington Monument under guard

Sunday, August 23, 1998
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Park police placed concrete barriers around the Washington Monument and were searching tourists' bags Saturday because of heightened security following U.S. missile attacks on alleged terrorist sites in Afghanistan and Sudan.

Spokesman John Loveland said the so-called Jersey walls were put up because the monument is among the capital's few major public memorials that a vehicle can park near.

Another National Park Service spokesman, Lee Werst, said officials had been considering installation of barriers to keep away traffic as part of the monument's restoration project, scheduled to end in 2000.

"Scaffolding is going up before too long, and we want to have a little larger safety zone," he said. Possible security threats because of Thursday's missile strikes advanced the schedule, he said.

Manual bag checks by Park Police began Friday, Werst said.

But he added, "Everything is just precautionary."

Washington went into similar cautionary measures after the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. The two-block stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House was closed shortly after that incident. It remains closed.