The National Park Service (NPS) has closed Dupont Circle Park in Washington, D.C., for the weekend as WorldPride comes to town. The NPS said this week that they would close the area important to the D.C. LGBTQ+ community and then said they would let it stay open for the Pride festivities, before finally closing it last night.

The order from NPS says that Dupont Circle Park will be closed from 6 p.m. Thursday to 6 p.m. this Saturday and that the closure is “at the request of the United States Park Police” and is “necessary for the maintenance of public health and safety and protection of natural and cultural resources in Dupont Circle Park.”

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NPS has not yet said whether they would erect a tall fence around the park on Friday to prevent people from climbing in, but News4 reports that metal barriers have been put up around the park.

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On Monday, NPS announced that it would close off Dupont Circle Park this weekend during the WorldPride festivities, citing “significant” damage to the park’s fountain during a previous pride event, costing nearly $175,000, although it was unclear what damages were incurred at the park last year and how that repair figure was arrived at.

“This decision was based on a history and pattern of destructive and disorderly behavior from unpermitted activities happening in the park during past DC Pride weekends, including vaŋdalism in 2023 that resulted in approximately $175,000 in damage to the historic Dupont Circle fountain,” NPS said in a statement. They said that the park was being closed at the request of the local Metropolitan Police Department.

Less than 24 hours later, after pushback from the LGBTQ+ community, the decision was rescinded. D.C. Council members Brooke Pinto and Zachary Parker said that they spoke to the Metropolitan Police Department and were told that the park would not be closed.

But the new decision from NPS to close the park cites the United States Park Police, a federal law enforcement agency that polices NPS-managed land. The U.S. Park Police operates under the NPS.

“The circle belongs to everyone, it is the city’s town square,” said Jeffrey Ruegauer, a member of the Dupont Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commission, in a public meeting. “It is intimately linked with the gay community and the gay rights movement and so many other rights movements over the years.”

The main WorldPride parade is scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday, June 7. The parade does not pass by Dupont Circle Park, but the park is often used by Pride-goers during Pride.

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