WASHINGTON — Want to attend the big Jan. 20 presidential inauguration?
It will be historic and stirring, so get ready to speed-dial your favorite Washington hotel. Call your member of Congress, who, eventually, will distribute free tickets.
But coming to town could cost some people a mint.
Those interested in the Royal Suite at the Four Seasons Hotel will pay $15,000 a night, with a five-night minimum. If they spring for the Ritz-Carlton Washington, it’s $50,000 for the four-night package.
Available at the Marriott on Pennsylvania Avenue is a $1 million extravaganza — you get 300 rooms.
The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, which plans the swearing-in, had most of the 240,000 tickets printed “in a very secure setting” over the summer, said staff director Howard Gantman.
“The last inaugural, more than 200,000 people were there,” he said. “With the interest in this election, there could be significantly more.”
“The tickets are distributed through the Senate offices and the House offices” and through the Presidential Inaugural Committee, set up by the winning candidate, he said. “Constituents around the country are urged to contact their House or Senate members.”
The free, color-coded tickets are unavailable until the last minute, to try to keep them from being sold, he said. Most people won’t be able to get their tickets until the week before the inauguration, when “each (legislator’s) office will have to come to us, to a secure location, to pick up the tickets that have been provided for that office,” he said.
It is not yet known how many tickets each member of Congress will get. People assigned tickets must pick them up at their legislator’s office on Capitol Hill.
Gantman said talks are ongoing with the National Park Service regarding how much of the Mall, and whether such things as JumboTrons, might be used.
The committee has ordered more than 10,000 square feet of blue carpet, trimmed in red, for the platform, 28,000 chairs, and blankets and ponchos in case of bad weather. Umbrellas are prohibited in the audience, in part for security reasons.
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