Pennsylvania Avenue lighthearted celebrations, including a series of day- and nighttime Shriner's parades in the 1920s and 1930s. Thomas and Concepcion Picciotto are the founders of the White House Peace Vigil, the longest running anti-nuclear peace vigil in the US, at Lafayette Square on the 1600 block of Pennsylvania Avenue. After the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, the Secret Service closed the portion of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House to all vehicular traffic. Pedestrian and bicycle traffic, however, was still permitted on the sidewalk. After 9/11 this policy was made permanent. Near the White House traffic is redirected to
White House Reconstruction Family moved into the White House guest house across Pennsylvania Avenue. There were multiple contributing factors that led to the White House's pending collapse in 1948, including original and subsequent design flaws, improper materials, multiple small and major renovations carried out by many presidents to accommodate differing tastes, needs, and advances in technologies. Collectively they were described as a "slow murder" of the White House. Fire: In August 1814 the White House was gutted by a fire set by British troops during the War of 1812; only a heavy rainstorm prevented the entire structure from being destroyed. By 1817 the