The Commission of Fine Arts, a federal panel that vets monument designs and other major projects in Washington, on Thursday unanimously approved President Donald Trump’s plans for a massive arch.
While the panel does not give final approval for projects, it did give Nicolas Charbonneau, the architect leading the arch project, revisions on the project for him to present at a later meeting.
“This was an impressive display,” the commission’s chair, Rodney Mims Cook Jr., said Thursday. “This is personal to everyone in the room, and the president wants to do something that in his heart he feels is good.”
Trump wants to place a 250-foot, gold-adorned arch at Memorial Circle, near the Arlington National Cemetery, on a site controlled by the National Park Service. The plans are opposed by veterans, including several who have sued Trump, arguing that the structure would obstruct the view of the cemetery. Democrats have also argued that Trump must get congressional approval to proceed with construction.
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During the panel meeting Thursday, members of the public showed up to testify in opposition to the arch, with many making the case that the arch would interrupt the intentional corridor between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.
During the public comment period, the panel received almost 1,000 responses, which were all against the arch, according to Thomas Luebke, the commission’s secretary.
Despite public comments, the panel supports Trump’s design. All of its current members were appointed by Trump after he fired the entire commission in October.
James McCrery II, a commissioner who was also the original architect for Trump’s ballroom, suggested that the design remove three golden statues atop the arch, making the structure 166 feet instead of 250 feet. He suggested this change would make it a “more Washingtonian design.”
McCrery also suggested that Charbonneau replace four lions on the arch, since lions are not native to North America.
In response to a public comment about the arch disrupting the city skyline, Chamberlain Harris, a commissioner, argued that the current design would “honor the original vision” of city designers.
And Cook, who has long yearned for there to be an arch in the capital, took several opportunities to praise Charbonneau for the design presentation.
In an interview with The Washington Post published Thursday, Cook also suggested that Trump “should do three” arches — and named two more locations in the southeast quadrant of the city as potential sites.
Doug Burgum, the secretary of the interior, was also in attendance at the hearing and presented the proposed design as a manifestation of several past efforts to implement an arch. He said the lack of an arch at Memorial Circle “directly contradicts the original vision,” which would be for Columbia Island, a public park between the District of Columbia and Arlington, to have a “beautiful” structure.
Construction of the arch could come soon, officials have said.
“Beginning construction this year on the architectural arc is a fitting way to commemorate the 250th anniversary of American independence,” Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, told reporters Wednesday at a press briefing.
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