Historic Fort Point remains closed as US govt shutdown continues

San Francisco —  The Fort Point National Historic Site in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco, California, remained closed Wednesday as a partial shutdown of the government of the United States over funding for a border wall continued.

Cyclists and tourists were seen turning away from the entrance on Tuesday where a sign read “Road Closed.”

“Because of a lapse in federal appropriations, this national park facility is closed for the safety of visitors and park resources,” another sign nearby read.

Many tourists gathered together at the entrance of the historic site, a masonry seacoast fortification located on the southern side of the Golden Gate Bridge and took pictures of the magnificent edifice of the bridge, an efe-epa journalist reported.

The shutdown, the second-longest, entered its 18th day on Tuesday after US President Donald Trump and the Congress failed to strike a deal before a Dec. 22, 2018 deadline over the funding of a wall along the US-Mexico border to curb down on illegal immigration.

The Democrats had refused to approve Trump’s proposal to use $5.7bn in taxpayer money to build the wall, a key promise of his presidential campaign, although the president had earlier vowed to make Mexico pay for it.

The shutdown has affected about 800,000 federal workers, including workers at tourist sites, including the Fort Point.

“As the lapse in appropriations continues, it has become clear that highly visited parks with limited staff have urgent needs that cannot be addressed solely through the generosity of our partners,” the National Park Service, a federal government agency that manages all national parks, said in a statement on Monday.

The NPS said it will take funds from entrance fees to pay for cleaning up overflowing trash, patrolling of parks and other services.