WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump's design for the Triumphal Arch he wants built at an entrance to the US capital comes up for a review and possible vote Thursday by a key federal agency, one of several projects he is pursuing alongside a White House ballroom to leave his lasting footprint on Washington.
Trump said on social media that the arch “will be the GREATEST and MOST BEAUTIFUL Triumphal Arch, anywhere in the World” and a "wonderful addition to the Washington DC area for all Americans to enjoy for many decades to come!”
Also on the agenda for the monthly meeting of the US Commission of Fine Arts, whose seven members were appointed by the Republican president, is his plan to paint the gray granite exterior of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House white.
A third White House-related project, construction of an underground centre to conduct security screenings of tourists and other guests, is also up for consideration.
Commissioners are scheduled to review design plans for all three projects. They will be reviewing the arch and the paint job for the first time. The White House visitors' centre was discussed at the March meeting. It was unclear if the commission would approve any of the projects on Thursday.
A separate oversight panel, the National Capital Planning Commission, opened its consideration of the visitors' centre last month. It should receive Trump's arch design soon for consideration and an approval vote.
The arch would stand 250 feet tall (76 metres) from its base to a torch held aloft by a Lady Liberty-like figure atop the structure. The figure would be flanked up top by two eagles and guarded at the base by four lions — all gilded. The phrases “One Nation Under God” and “Liberty and Justice for All" would be inscribed in gold lettering atop either side of the monument.
The arch would be built on a human-made island managed by the National Park Service on the Virginia side of the Potomac River at the end of Memorial Bridge from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. The arch would dwarf the Lincoln Memorial, which stands at 99 feet (30 meters) tall.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that the 250-foot height will honour America's 250 years of existence.
But it's already the subject of litigation. A group of veterans and a historian have sued in federal court to block construction on the grounds that the arch will disrupt the sightline between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington House at Arlington National Cemetery, among other reasons.
The US Secret Service, Interior Department, National Park Service, and the Executive Office of the President want to start construction in August on a 33,000-square-foot (3,066-square-metre) centre to screen tourists and other visitors to the White House.
It would be built beneath Sherman Park, federal land southwest of the White House, to provide a more secure place to screen those going on White House tours or attending events. The new facility would have seven lanes to ease processing and reduce wait times.
Officials want it operating by July 2028, six months before Trump's term ends.
Trump said the Executive Office Building is beautiful, but he doesn't like its gray exterior.
“It's one of the most beautiful buildings anywhere in Washington," Trump said in August. “I think it's just incredible, but you have to get past the colour because the stone they used was a really bad colour.”
Two proposals were given to the commission: Cover the entire building in bright white or paint most of it white while leaving untouched the granite on the exposed basement and subbasement.
In written materials, the White House said the building has been largely neglected since its construction. It said the building's colour, design and massing do not “align visually with the surrounding architecture” and lack ”any symbolic cohesion with the White House”.
The paint job is also the subject of litigation in federal court.
The building sits across a driveway from the West Wing. It was completed in 1888 after 17 years of construction, and its granite, slate, and cast iron exterior makes it one of America's best examples of the French Second Empire style of architecture.
It originally housed the State, War and Navy departments, and currently houses offices for the vice president and the National Security Council, among others.
The building is a National Historic Landmark and is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.