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
Avenue House the Second World War. The basement was used as an air-raid shelter. In 1989 the east wing of the house was gutted by fire, but has been restored to its former condition. The house is now a meetings and events venue, while the gardens and arboretum remain open to the public free of charge. The house and gardens are now managed by an independent charitable body, the Avenue House Estate Trust which leased the Estate for 125 years in 2002. Hertford Lodge, also a Grade II listed building and adjacent to Avenue House, was built in the 1860s. It was