The National Park Service has resumed tours of the clock tower in the historic Old Post Office Building, which is also the site of the Trump International Hotel.
In this Sunday, Aug. 10, 2014 photo provided by NASA, a perigee full moon or supermoon is seen over the Old Post Office and Clock Tower, in Washington.
(AP Photo/NASA, Bill Ingalls)
AP Photo/NASA, Bill Ingalls
In this Jan. 19, 2017, photo, police stand guard outside the Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington. While President Donald Trump’s hotel in Washington did serve as a hub of inaugural activities it also stands as ground zero for what top Democrats and some ethics advisers see as his unique web of conflicts of interest. Trump’s lease with the federal government to develop and operate a hotel inside the historic Old Post Office building expressly prohibits any elected official from benefiting from the property, yet Trump has not divested from his company or this particular project.
(AP Photo/John Minchillo)
AP Photo/John Minchillo
A U.S. Park Police helicopter flies past the Old Post Office tower where the Trump International Hotel is housed on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017.
(AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
AP Photo/Cliff Owen
Pedestrians cross Pennsylvania Ave., across the street from the Trump International Hotel in downtown Washington, Monday, Sept. 12, 2016. The luxury hotel Donald Trump has built in an iconic downtown Washington building is set to open. The Trump International Hotel will begin serving guests Monday. There won’t be any fanfare around the opening, which is known as a “soft opening.” Grand-opening ceremonies are being planned for October. The Trump Organization won a 60-year lease from the federal government to transform the Old Post Office building on Pennsylvania Avenue into a hotel.
(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
The Old Post Office undergoes renovations in this July 8, 2015 file photo.
(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
WASHINGTON — The National Park Service has resumed tours of the clock tower in the historic Old Post Office Building, which is also the site of the Trump International Hotel.
Visits to the tiptop of the historic Romanesque Revival building along Pennsylvania Avenue had been suspended starting in 2014 as construction on the Trump hotel began. The new Trump hotel opened last fall.
The tours resumed Feb. 9, National Park Service spokesman Mike Litterst confirmed to WTOP.
Tours run 9 a.m. through 5 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays, except for Thanksgiving and Christmas, according to the park service website.
The General Services Administration, the agency that serves as the federal government’s landlord, made the decision about when to resume tours, Litterst said. So far, there’s been little fanfare about the tours restarting.
For the month of February, the tower was open for tours for 12 days and saw 2,507 visitors, the park service said.
Under a 2012 deal with the GSA, Donald Trump, then a celebrity businessman, won a 60-year lease to redevelop the Old Post Office building and turn it into a luxury hotel.
The clock tower tour includes exhibits about the building’s history. “One of the highlights is definitely the skyline,” Litterst said.
The building, which was built in the 1890s, is one of the tallest structures in D.C., the GSA says, and it currently provides the arguably the best views of the D.C. skyline since, the Washington Monument will be closed until spring 2019 to repair recurring problems with its elevator.
Visitors interested in taking the tour should follow the signs at the south end of the building.
The hotel has been the site of frequent protests since Trump’s election.
Jack Moore joined WTOP.com as a digital writer/editor in July 2016. Previous to his current role, he covered federal government management and technology as the news editor at Nextgov.com, part of Government Executive Media Group.
