From "Construction Will Begin This Summer to Make White House Fence Taller"
Washington Post (05/24/19) Hedgpeth, Dana
The White House perimeter fence is up for a replacement with a structure that will be about 13 feet tall, an increase of about five feet.
The changes are intended to keep out intruders after the arrests of several people who have tried to scale the fence in recent years.
The Secret Service and the National Park Service, which maintains the White House grounds, received final approval in 2017 from the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and National Capital Planning Commission to move forward with building what officials called a “tougher, taller and stronger” fence.
Other changes will include wider and stronger fence pickets, as well as sharper points at the top — described in a National Capital Planning Commission report as “pencil point anti-climb measures intended to deter climbers from grasping the top bar.”
Thomas Luebke, secretary of the fine arts commission, said the White House is not alone in having increased security measures, citing the Escorial near Madrid and the fence around Buckingham Palace. “It’s part of the physical impact to the city that’s inevitable with increased security,” he said. “We’ve seen this over the last 18 years in public buildings and public space, and this is just one more part.”
Washington Post (05/24/19) Hedgpeth, Dana
The White House perimeter fence is up for a replacement with a structure that will be about 13 feet tall, an increase of about five feet.
The changes are intended to keep out intruders after the arrests of several people who have tried to scale the fence in recent years.
The Secret Service and the National Park Service, which maintains the White House grounds, received final approval in 2017 from the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and National Capital Planning Commission to move forward with building what officials called a “tougher, taller and stronger” fence.
Other changes will include wider and stronger fence pickets, as well as sharper points at the top — described in a National Capital Planning Commission report as “pencil point anti-climb measures intended to deter climbers from grasping the top bar.”
Thomas Luebke, secretary of the fine arts commission, said the White House is not alone in having increased security measures, citing the Escorial near Madrid and the fence around Buckingham Palace. “It’s part of the physical impact to the city that’s inevitable with increased security,” he said. “We’ve seen this over the last 18 years in public buildings and public space, and this is just one more part.”
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