If you’re coming to Washington for the inauguration, pack some sturdy boots, a heavy coat, a powerful pair of binoculars, a cartload of patience and especially your platinum card.
President-elect Barack Obama hasn’t even taken the oath of office, but he’s already boosting the economy, at least in the capital region.
With record crowds expected to pack the National Mall from end to end, hotels are marketing fantasy inaugural packages ranging from $50,000 to $200,000 replete with chauffeurs, designer duds and gourmet meals.
Then there’s the homeowner in suburban Maryland offering to rent an “inaugural sleeper sofa” for $250 a night. Or the $65-a-night cabins without running water at West Virginia’s Harpers Ferry KOA campground.
“I’m making sure that people fully understand that they have to take a hike to the shower house,” said Dale Brechlin, camp manager.
The inauguration of the 44th president has sparked a logistical surge by the Presidential Inaugural Committee, the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, the Armed Forces Inaugural Committee, and the District of Columbia, not to mention restaurants, hotels, tuxedo and limo rentals, and others.
Officials are calculating how many porta-potties to plant on the mall — open from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial for the first time during an inauguration — as well as what to do with all the buses bringing visitors to the city. For those arriving by private jet, the National Business Aviation Association has warned of likely “parking challenges” at regional airports.
“You can expect airports to be packed like a Wal-Mart parking lot,” said Dug Garrett, a veteran of the air charter business.
Obama will take his oath, at noon on Jan. 20, on a platform being built on the west steps of the Capitol. He will deliver his inaugural address, have lunch inside the Capitol and then ride in a 1.5-mile parade down Pennsylvania Avenue to a stand in front of the White House.
The crowd is expected to far surpass the record 1.5 million estimated turnout for Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1965 inauguration.
Tickets to the swearing-in have become so hot that they’re being kept in a secret high-security location. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), leading the Joint Congressional Committee, has introduced legislation to make it a federal crime to scalp or counterfeit inaugural tickets.
Congressional offices and the Presidential Inaugural Committee distribute the tickets free of charge, but demand has been so great that many offices stopped taking requests within a week of Election Day. Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin’s office has received 14,200 requests for about 400 tickets. Feinstein’s office has fielded 40,000 requests.
One person offered on Craigslist.com to swap his Super Bowl tickets.
Others are random-dialing congressional offices.
“People would pick up the phone and start calling congressmen, and guess whose name is first. We had all kinds of new friends,” said David Helfert, an aide to Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii).
For those without tickets, there’s standing room only on the mall, which could involve “watching” the swearing-in on a still-unknown number of video screens stationed as far as the Lincoln Memorial — 2 miles away.
Meanwhile, the Washington subway is bracing for record crowds, planning rush-hour service from 4 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Inauguration Day and warning passengers to expect sardine-like conditions.
“We are preparing for the fact that many of our trains could very well be filled to capacity by the time they reach the downtown core of the city,” said Steven Taubenkibel of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, which is cashing in on Obama-mania with commemorative fare cards.
The D.C. government is trying to accommodate crowds by lifting regulations that typically bar private homeowners from renting out rooms. The city also will allow bars and nightclubs to stay open 24 hours a day.
Ellen Proxmire, who co-chaired John F. Kennedy’s inauguration, says people may reconsider making the trek to Washington when they realize the hotels are sold out. Or, she said, “If people don’t have a place to stay, they’ll probably stay in the bars all night. It’ll be warm.”
Those who pony up at the top hotels will find inaugural treats by their pillows each night. At the Mayflower, guests can expect commemorative cuff links in the turndown service. At the Ritz Carlton, pashmina shawls.
The Ritz Carlton on 22nd Street is turning its lobby bar into an Obama-themed cocktail lounge, and its West End restaurant will offer Obama-themed Hawaiian dishes. Guests will get a cookie jar filled with Michelle Obama’s favorite shortbread cookies as well as a “swearing-in survival kit” with Burberry scarf, ear muffs and binoculars.
“The expectations are sky-high, and people are here for a four- or five-day period that’s supposed to make some lifetime memories,” said Elizabeth Mullins, general manager of four local Ritz Carltons.
At the Mandarin Oriental, a $200,900 package will buy four nights in the presidential suite with clothing from Ralph Lauren, a chauffeured Maserati Quattroporte, daily spa treatments and servings of Veuve Clicquot champagne and caviar. Guests can keep the robes, monogrammed with a “tasteful” inaugural seal with the word “Democrat” inside. The hotel promises a $10,000 donation in the guest’s name to the new first lady’s favorite charity.
No one has yet bought the package, a hotel spokesman said.
But business is booming for limousine and tuxedo rentals and restaurants, not to mention those planning dozens of inaugural and state society balls charging $2,500 per person or more.
“Once Obama won, we became the hottest ticket in town,” said Sarah Elizabeth Ulis, president of the Hawaii State Society of Washington, D.C., whose island-themed ball sold out weeks ago, with 1,000 tickets fetching $200 apiece. “We had to send back $60,000 worth of checks.”
Some are hoping the Hawaii-born Obama will stop by.
Still, there’s some uncertainty among businesses near the parade route because of likely street closings and masses flooding the city.
“I was joking with the chef that we were going to bring our sleeping bags and stay here,” said Mimi Schneider, director of Kinkead’s, an upscale seafood restaurant four blocks from the White House. “I think we’re going to be completely overwhelmed.”
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Room–or couch, or futon–for rent
Washington-area residents aware of the incredible demand for lodging come inauguration time are transforming almost any conceivable space into — voila — a room for the night.
Airbedandbreakfast.com, a peer-to-peer marketplace that launched its Inauguration Housing Guide last week, has posted more than 225 listings.
The no-frills offerings have included a couch in suburban Silver Spring, Md. ($10 per night), a futon in a den and an $80 dorm room at American University that is strictly BYOB — bring your own bag (as in sleeping).
At high end is a “chic, artsy” two-bedroom apartment with a stocked kitchen ($3,000). Cofounder Brian Chesky, 27, launched the site last summer, capitalizing on a pent-up demand for housing in Denver with the Democratic National Convention. “I knew the inauguration would present an even bigger opportunity,” Chesky said.
— Bonnie Miller Rubin
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richard.simon@latimes.com
jzuckman@tribune.com
