Presidents At Mount Rushmore National Memorial Getting Facials

Regular preservation work is being conducted on the profiles of the four presidents at Mount Rushmore National Memorial. NPS photo.

George, Abe, Teddy and Tom are getting a once-over from preservation specialists at Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

On Thursday the Memorial's preservation team took to the presidents' profiles to get an upclose look at how the sculpture is fairing.

Park officials say you can expect to see members of the preservation team on the faces and the mountain conducting preservation monitoring. Portions of the popular Presidential Trail and the Lakota, Nakota and Dakota Heritage Village will be closed periodically, as equipment is moved using a part of the trail and village corridor, they add.

The preservation team will be upgrading the rock block monitoring system to enhance conservation efforts on the sculpture. Rock block monitoring is just one phase of a larger long-term preservation plan. Utilizing new and developing technologies, this systematic approach to preservation builds upon past conservation work dating back to the time of artist Gutzon Borglum’s first efforts to seal and protect the Memorial.

The Mount Rushmore preservation team is composed of a wide variety of specialists from across park divisions. Rope access technicians are trained to use a dual rope system where each technician is attached to a working line and a safety, backup line at all times while performing work directly on the surface of the sculpture. The Mount Rushmore team is the only certified industrial ropes team in the National Park Service.