Parking space 32D at 1401 Wilson Blvd, in Arlington, Va., just outside DC was the epicenter of one of the biggest national political scandals in our country. Now, the garage made famous by the Watergate scandal will soon be torn down and replaced with condos.
Tim Helmig, vice president of Monday Properties (the developer that is planning to raze the building), recognizes the historic import of the parking garage and plans to commemorate it with a plaque or something miniscule after 32D falls to the wrecking ball. But he told the Washington Business Journal that the garage has got to go, saying, “The garage is at the end of its useful life, and with the redevelopment the configuration of the garage itself is going to change.”
How many historic sites are located in parking garages? A plaque doesn’t seem like enough. There are small preservationist groups that might come to the rescue, but I doubt anyone in United States politics is going to defend the sanctity of this site so fraught with references to the presidency and its potential for dishonesty. But somebody’s got to do it. Why not the parking industry?
