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
Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site still not acted to establish a permanent Pennsylvania Avenue Commission, so President Johnson issued Executive Order 11347 to extend the life of the Temporary Commission on Pennsylvania Avenue by another two years. The lack of redevelopment began to have repercussions for existing businesses on the avenue. Faced with repeated threats to its existence and lower occupancy due to competition and anti-Vietnam War protests on Pennsylvania Avenue, the Willard Hotel closed suddenly on July 15, 1968. The Temporary Commission struggled to obtain any redevelopment along Pennsylvania Avenue. Local landowners refused to make investments so long as their property remained subject to