WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a reversal of selections simply hours earlier than the WorldPride parade, the fencing round Dupont Circle Park has been eliminated.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Nationwide Park Service (NPS) introduced Saturday morning that Dupont Circle Park will reopen for WorldPride 2025.
This comes after an intense couple of days of criticism and confusion over the choice to shut the park on the heart of the District’s historic LGBTQ group throughout Satisfaction weekend.
Because the fencing was coming down, the places of work of the Mayor and the Nationwide Park Service launched the next joint assertion:
“We’re happy that the Mayor’s workplace and the Nationwide Park Service may work collectively in a single day on an answer that protects the historic options of this park whereas additionally making certain the security of all who get pleasure from it. We wish this weekend to be a protected and enjoyable celebration in our nation’s capital – and one that features among the best parks and group areas in our metropolis, Dupont Circle. We sit up for working collectively on future initiatives that maintain DC protected and delightful.”
MORE RELATED NEWS: Dupont Circle park to shut for Satisfaction weekend after backwards and forwards selections
The backstory:
NPS mentioned the plan to shut Dupont Circle park over WorldPride was to forestall vandalism and destruction seen throughout earlier Satisfaction weekends.
Throughout Satisfaction weekend in 2023, NPS says the Dupont Circle fountain was vandalized, inflicting $175,000 in damages.
“We acknowledge that World Satisfaction is a big occasion, and we’re dedicated to supporting a protected celebration for all,” NPS spokesperson Mike Litterst mentioned. “We ask for the general public’s cooperation and understanding as we take this mandatory step to maintain the group and guests protected and defend one among D.C.’s most treasured public areas.”
The choice was additionally made in response to President Donald Trump’s Govt Order on Defending American Monuments, Memorials, and Statues, and Combating Latest Legal Violence.
“That order requires federal companies to take proactive steps to guard historic and cultural sources on public lands, significantly the place there’s a demonstrated threat of harm or illegal exercise,” mentioned Litterst.
The Supply: Data from the Mayor’s workplace and NPS was used to put in writing this report.
