Billionaire to donate $7.5 million to repair cracks in Washington Monument

WASHINGTON — A deep-pocketed philanthropist will kick in half of the $15 million needed to repair the Washington Monument shuttered by August’s East Coast earthquake.

Repairs are expected to keep the 555-foot obelisk closed to visitors at least through August 2013, and billionaire history buff David Rubenstein wanted get the show on the road.

"This Washington Monument is probably one of the most recognizable buildings in the United States next to the Capitol and the Empire State Building," he said. "It could use a little repair work, and I wanted people to get to see it as soon as possible."

A lawyer and veteran of the Carter Administration, in 1987 Rubenstein founded The Carlyle Group, a powerful Washington-based private equity firm.

Last summer’s rare shake left cracks in the monument’s walls as long as four feet and an inch wide, some even letting in daylight.

Congress appropriated $7.5 million for the repairs on the condition that a private donor or donors match the sum.

The monument, completed in 1884, was actually built with private $1 donations totaling over $1 million, Rubenstein told The Associated Press.

The National Park Service, which oversees the monument, said repairs are expected to begin in August and would take a year.

The structure will still need more work, to include a seizmic study, reinforcement, and repair of water damage, AP reported.

During the quake, panicked visitors fled down flights of stairs to eascape, but there were no known deaths or serious injuries in the region

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Late last year, engineers wearing helmets and climbing harnesses rappelled slowly down the monument, conducting visual inspection of the cracks left by the quake.

Construction began in 1848, but funds ran out during the Civil War when the monument was left as an embarrassing stump for years.

The monument was the world’s tallest man-made structure when until it was surpassed by the Eiffel Tower. It remains the tallest structure in Washington, D.C.

Rubenstein has made large gifts in recent years to Washington's Smithsonian Institution, the National Archives, the Library of Congress and the Kennedy Center.

A history buff, Rubenstein owns a copy of the Magna Carta, among other historical documents, and reveres George Washington.

"I like to remind people about American history," he said. "George Washington is an incredible figure. When he was the head of the Revolutionary War Army, he could have stayed on as really the head of the government when we won the Revolutionary War, but he put down his arms."

With News Wire Services