Beginning Monday, September 10, 2012, the lower terrace of the West Front of the U.S. Capitol will be closed for construction of the 2013 Presidential Inaugural stands.
Fencing is being erected around the construction site and there will be no access to the Member and staff entrance on the lower terrace.
The West Front will be re-opened in mid-February 2013 following the Inaugural activities and the removal of the stands.
The Presidential swearing-in takes place on Monday, January 21, 2013, since January 20, 2013, is a Sunday. S. Con. Res 35 established January 21, 2013, as the official date for the Inaugural. This is the seventh time in U.S. history that the constitutionally mandated Inauguration date has fallen on a Sunday.
When this occurs, the public ceremonies traditionally are held on Monday. In addition, January 21, 2013, is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. It will be the second time that this Federal holiday has coincided with a Presidential Inauguration. This first was President Bill Clinton’s second Inauguration in January 1997.
