'Deep Throat' garage from U.S. Watergate scandal to be razed

[June 16, 2014]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One of the most historic U.S. journalism sites will vanish after a Virginia county board voted to demolish the building and parking garage central to the Watergate political scandal of the 1970s.

The Arlington County Board agreed on Saturday to raze the Rosslyn garage where FBI official Mark Felt secretly met with Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward during the Watergate scandal. The investigation led to President Richard Nixon's resignation in 1974.

Felt was known for decades as Woodward's source "Deep Throat."

The board voted to let Monday Properties replace its two 12-story, 1960s-era buildings with a residential tower and a commercial building.

The county will save the historical marker it erected in 2011 at the garage. The landowner has pledged to create a commemorative memorial to the Watergate events.

Tuesday will mark the 42nd anniversary of the June 17, 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex, which sparked the whole scandal.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Sandra Maler)

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