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National Mall gets new leader to guide overhaul

WASHINGTON - The new leader responsible for the overhaul of the deteriorating National Mall, with its crumbling sidewalks and dirty water, promises visible improvements within the next year.

It's only been a week since John Piltzecker became superintendent of America's "front yard," but the 25-year park ranger and administrator understands the public outrage over the mall's current condition. Piltzecker, 52, said he'll work to marshal both public and private money to renovate the mall, which is home to the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials and the site of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.

"This has always been a special place for me," said Piltzecker, who worked as a seasonal park ranger on the mall decades ago. "I understood that there were enormous challenges but also that there were enormous opportunities."

In the next year, he will oversee the start of a major renovation of the Lincoln Memorial grounds and reflecting pool as well as repairs to a sinking seawall in front of the Jefferson Memorial — projects totaling nearly $50 million. The projects are being funded by the federal economic stimulus package, and construction will take one to two years once work begins, officials said.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has said this is only a downpayment on the mall's $400 million backlog on deferred maintenance.

The park service is on the verge of adopting a plan to restore the rest of Washington's monumental core.

Officials have received 30,000 comments from the public on how to improve the mall, including its grounds, bathrooms, reflecting pools and food sales.

Actual construction has been slow, though, because Congress has provided little support in recent years.

In July, an Associated Press analysis of congressional spending since 2005 found the mall has been at a disadvantage in competing for millions of dollars in extra park funds doled out by powerful lawmakers, perhaps because the District of Columbia has no vote in the House or Senate.

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