Trump administration officials refilled the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool over the weekend, the latest development in a monthslong saga affecting the monument.
On Saturday, a National Park Service sign posted on the pool’s wraparound fencing read: “The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is being refilled as the National Park Service and contractors put the final touches on a historic effort to clean, repair and beautify this national landmark.
“As part of the normal refilling process, the water may temporarily appear cloudy before clearing. The Reflecting Pool will once again stand as a fitting reflection of the beauty, dignity and grandeur of the Lincoln Memorial and our nation’s capital.”
Last week, President Donald Trump said the attraction would soon be restored to its former glory.
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“I think they’re going to fill it up this week,” the president told reporters on Oct. 6. “The Reflecting Pool is totally complete, and we changed the old pipes.”
Trump added that he’ll visit the site once renovations are complete.
The storied landmark had undergone a botched renovation earlier this year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said in court filings.
The Trump administration spent roughly $16 million on repairs and renovations to the Reflecting Pool, government contract records show, but those efforts resulted in a massive algae bloom and a peeling lining.
The developments represented a setback for the president, who made renovating the monument a central fixture of his plan to “beautify” Washington. Following the botched renovation, Trump repeatedly asserted that the site had been the target of vandalism — and that saboteurs, not shoddy contracting work, were responsible for the situation.
Trump first announced a plan to refurbish the pool in April, saying that the attraction had been the subject of numerous complaints over its cleanliness. There were also issues with its leaky foundation, which the National Park Service said caused the pool to leak 16 million gallons of water a year.
The president announced the pool’s basin would be painted “American flag blue” ahead of the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations.
But the renovations led to peeling paint and algae blooms. On the Fourth of July, the landmark was fenced off to visitors.
Marcus, a German visitor who requested that only his first name be used, was not impressed by the sight.
“Everything I see is fenced,” the senior executive defense adviser told The Washington Sun on Saturday. “This is fenced; the White House is fenced.”
He questioned whether the Trump administration’s decision was worth it.
“What’s wrong here?” he said. “It’s supposed to be a democracy where everybody can walk around.”
The Washington Sun has emailed the National Park Service for information on when the pool will be reopened to visitors.
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