GW Monument Reopens. The View ... Sensational!

Nearly 670 feet of cracks are sealed, and loose stones are once again fixed in place at the 130-year-old Washington Monument, which defines the capital skyline. The panoramic views, from about 500 feet above the landscape, are back.

In a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by hundreds of people — including celebrities and politicians, tourists and schoolchildren — the National Park Service and the Trust for the National Mall reopened the Washington Monument on Monday. People gathered in the shadow of the monument and listened to a history lesson from a fourth-grade class from Aiton Elementary School in eastern Washington.