ASHINGTON - In front of the White House, workers pound nails and saw wooden planks, constructing a reviewing stand so the next president can watch the bands in his inaugural parade march down Pennsylvania Avenue.
The construction is one of the capital's few signs of the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20, the day of the swearing-in of either Democrat Al Gore or Republican George W. Bush.
With the election still in limbo, neither candidate has formed a Presidential Inaugural Committee. But that has not slowed down planning, said Tamara Somerville, chief of staff of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies.
The presidential committee is in charge of the balls and parades, with the rest of the events handled mostly by Congress, she said.
The incoming president will get to approve a program for the day, including singers or poets, she said. Tickets and invitation are being printed, and while the single-page program is normally mailed out with the tickets and invitations, the package does not go out until mid-December, Somerville said.
All 200,000 tickets and 50,000 invitations refer only to the inauguration of the president and vice president and do not name them, she said.
The Armed Forces Inaugural Committee, the third organization involved in the inauguration, has put together information so the presidential committee can hit the ground running.
The military has reserved space for that committee in its building and has looked over the facilities and parade routes that were used for President Clinton's last inauguration, said a spokeswoman, Lieutenant Colonel M.J. Jadick. That information will be given to the presidential committee.
