The large monument built between 1815 and 1829, in the heart of Baltimore, was designed by Robert Mills, prior to the construction of the monument that we know today as the Washington Monument on the National Mall.  The monument is comprised of a square ground-level building topped by a Doric-style column rising 178 feet above a plaza. At the top of this pedestal stands a marble statue of George Washington.  All marble used in the monument was sourced from northern Maryland quarries.  In preparation for the monument’s 200th anniversary, the City of Baltimore developed a partnership with the Mount Vernon Place Conservancy to address much needed repairs and maintenance of the structure.

As part of the restoration of the Washington Monument, WEI surveyed and cataloged all interior and exterior marble pavers prior to removal. While only a small percentage was originally scheduled for removal and replacement, the discovery of a deteriorated substrate necessitated a complete removal of the setting bed. The underlying flag stones were left in place (except where removal was required for MEP work). Compacted stone was used to create a non-eroding base for a new setting bed, upon which the marble pavers were installed. Once the scaffold was erected, WEI conservators provided materials testing, mockup design, bronze treatment, and treatment of the statue at the top of the monument. 

The remainder of WEI’s scope included resetting brick pavers in the basement area, 100% repoint of the exterior façade and select repointing of the interior, cleaning the exterior marble, stone replacement and dutchmen, and performing additional stone repairs.  WEI stonemasons repaired or replaced the curved marble gutter units at the perimeter.

As a finishing touch, WEI’s mill shop restored the huge wood entrance doors and painted them to appear that they were made from bronze.