16 U.S.C. § 438 — Repairs and improvements; how made

This section sets the rules for physically changing Fort McHenry's grounds, buildings, and other structures. Any repair, improvement, change, or alteration to the grounds, buildings, or other structures on the reservation may happen only if it follows detailed plans. The Secretary of the Interior must approve those plans first. The United States pays for all such repairs, improvements, or alterations — the expense comes from federal funds. Whatever gets built or improved this way becomes, and stays, the permanent property of the United States, right along with the reservation itself. In short, no private party pays for or owns any part of these improvements — the fort and everything added to it belong permanently to the federal government.