President Nixon subsequently ordered that a park be established on the land, and in 1976, Constitution Gardens was finally dedicated as a "living legacy American Revolution Bicentennial tribute."

Watson drove his tractor into the center of the pond and claimed to have explosives, prompting the evacuation of the area and holding the FBI and U.S. Park Police at bay for 48 hours before he surrendered.

During the standoff, Watson dug up part of the island and damaged a retaining wall (for which he received a conviction for destroying federal property) but apparently did not harm any of the monuments.

In a series of plans and designs, architecture firm Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill (SOM) and Modern landscape architect Dan Kiley completed Constitution Gardens in 1976 as a picturesque restful park with a small lake, which would contrast with the "formalism of the Grand Axis."

[2] After an intense and highly publicized competition, the Trust for the National Mall has announced the three winning teams selected to redesign the neglected sites of "America's front yard".

This transformation aims to replace the current concrete-lined lake with a thriving, sustainable habitat, integrating modern ecological principles with the historic design concepts envisioned by Dan Kiley and SOM in the McMillan Plan.