REGIONAL BRIEFING
REGIONAL BRIEFING
Wednesday, August 29, 2007; Page B02
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
Mall, Monuments Get New Director
The National Park Service announced yesterday the appointment of Peggy O'Dell to be superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks, effective Oct. 29.
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O'Dell, a native of St. Louis, replaces Stephen Lorenzetti, who has been acting superintendent since February. He will go back to being the parks' deputy superintendent. O'Dell previously served for two years as superintendent of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, known as the Gateway Arch, in St. Louis.
A 29-year veteran of the Park Service, she also has worked in Harpers Ferry, W.Va., and was superintendent of the Jewel Cave National Monument in South Dakota.
The National Mall and Memorial Parks includes, among other sites, the Washington Monument and the Lincoln, Jefferson, World War II and Vietnam Veterans memorials. They are some of the most heavily visited parks in the country.
-- Michael E. Ruane
Ford's Theatre Is Closed Again
Ford's Theatre, the site of President Abraham Lincoln's assassination and one of the nation's most hallowed historic sites, closed yesterday for the second time in three months, the National Park Service said.
The theater, at 511 10th St. NW, was shut down for an 18-month, $8.5 million upgrade that will include its first elevator, new restrooms and renovations to the heating, air-conditioning, lighting and sound systems.
The Park Service had originally closed the 144-year-old theater June 1 but reopened it June 30 after failing to get qualified bids for the project. New bids have been received, a spokesman said, and the upgrade can move forward.
About 1 million people visit Ford's every year. Lincoln, who was sitting in a private box watching a comedy, was shot April 14, 1865, by John Wilkes Booth. The president died in the Petersen House, across the street, the next morning.
The Petersen House will remain open to the public during the work on the theater, the Park Service said.
-- Michael E. Ruane
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