New D.C. tourist attraction: The ‘Deep Throat’ parking garage
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A typical visit to the nation’s capital includes stops at the White House, the Smithsonian, the Lincoln Memorial -– and a parking garage?
A sign now marks the Rosslyn, Va., garage where the anonymous source known as Deep Throat passed information to Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward that helped unravel the Watergate scandal. The scandal, which began with the June 17, 1972, burglary of the Democratic Party headquarters in Washington’s Watergate office complex, culminated with President Nixon’s resignation on Aug. 9, 1974.
‘It’s a garage that people have been walking by, driving into, for years,’’ Michael Leventhal, Arlington County’s historic preservation program coordinator, told The Times, ‘and little do they know that right there on the third floor below grade is probably one of the most amazing events in the mid-20th century.’’ He said the sign shows that history doesn’t just happen in the most regal of settings.
The sign was placed outside the garage, on Nash Street, by the Arlington County Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board in conjuction with the Arlington County historic preservation program. But a note also has been taped to a column at a parking space inside where Felt and Woodward met.
The late W. Mark Felt, a former FBI official, revealed in 2005 that he was Deep Throat.
‘They met at this garage six times between October 1972 and November 1973,’ says the sign.
Leventhal had the sign made in 2008, but when his efforts to install it in a ceremony never came together, he had it put up last week.
For those of you who can’t get there, Washington radio station WTOP features photos of Space 32D, ‘perfectly located in a discreet corner,’ where Felt passed on information to Woodward.
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-- Richard Simon in Washington
