What Lies Beneath: Massive Secret Vault Under Lincoln Memorial to Be Opened to Public for America250

RedState 

If you’ve ever been to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., you’ll know it’s a majestic site, with the 19-foot-tall Georgia white marble statue of Honest Abe overlooking the Reflecting Pool and then further off, the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol.

Something you presumably didn’t see on your visit, however, is a massive 50,000-square-foot foundation built to keep the whole thing from sinking into the swamps of D.C. It’s called the Undercroft, and it’s been a tightly held secret for decades. In June, the Department of the Interior will invite the public to see the hidden vault, Secretary Doug Burgum announced Sunday:

For whatever reason, I always love underground sites and find them mysterious and fascinating. They’re right under our feet, and yet we have no idea they’re there. In fact, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to getting caught up more than once in episodes of the 2017 Science Channel show, “Secrets of the Underground.” Where is that Nazi gold?! I want to know.

Burgum appeared on CBS News’ “Sunday Morning” and showcased the spectacular little-known space:

For more than a century, one of Washington's best-kept secrets lay beneath the Lincoln Memorial: the Undercroft, a soaring 50,000-square-foot foundation built to keep the landmark from sinking into D.C.'s swampy ground.

Beginning in June, the public will be able to visit the space, now with a museum tracing the memorial's history, from its construction to its role as a powerful stage for the civil rights movement. https://cbsn.ws/4vief5h

Sign me up.

Correspondent Faith Salie explained how the massive structure, which is unbelievably almost twice the size of the memorial above, came to be:

To call Washington a "swamp" is a metaphor, but also the literal truth. So, when planning began for the Lincoln Memorial in the early 1910s, builders faced a real sinking problem. Their solution led to one of Washington's best-kept secrets, hidden for over a century … until now.

Underneath the Lincoln Memorial is what's known as the memorial's Undercroft (a term usually reserved for the vaulted basement of a medieval castle or cathedral). Here, 120 massive concrete pillars sink 50 feet into the ground, down to the bedrock, to support the weight of the marble above.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a mainstream news story if Salie didn’t press the secretary on how woke the unveiling and its exhibits would be. Burgum was eloquent in his response:

There's a place to have current cultural debates. And then, there's a place to just tell and celebrate our history. We're not a nation without flaws, but we are a nation that was based on continuous improvement. And we may have 'over-rotated' towards a point of some kind of massive self-criticism, 'cause maybe it was expedient, politically, in the short term. It's important, when we're using federal dollars, that we tell the story that celebrates this country.

It’s unclear whether Democrats and activist judges will try to block the opening, because it might hurt the environment or improve the overall monument experience. That is a sarcastic statement — at least for now — but activist groups, jurists, and Democrats have tried to stop virtually every effort the president and his team have made to beautify and improve our nation’s capital.

It’s not the only improvement the National Park Service has brought to the monument in preparation for America’s 250th birthday:

Part of the Lincoln Memorial undercroft project, the elevator is now open. With that done, the temporary accessibility ramp that was built on the front steps two years ago has now been removed. With a few finishing touches left, we're excited to show off this iconic American memorial later this summer. Learn more about the project at 
http://nps.gov/nama/learn/news/undercroft.htm
#LincolnMemorial #WashingtonDC

I took the family to the Lincoln Memorial back in the day. Now it looks like we need to make a return visit.