President Donald Trump’s proposed Triumphal Arch project has received overwhelmingly negative feedback from conservation groups and members of the public as plans for the massive structure were presented to a major committee for the first time on Thursday.
But the Fine Arts Commission still appears poised to approve the project and has taken a preliminary vote to move the process forward. The independent federal agency, which is stacked with Trump loyalists, advises the president and Congress on design plans for monuments, memorials, coins and federal buildings.
Trump has been deeply involved in the project to build the Arch as he has taken significant steps to impose his style and flavor on the nation’s capital during his second term. He has already added his name to the Kennedy Center and the US Institute of Peace, and is overseeing a major ballroom addition to the White House complex.
“This is personal for the president,” Rodney Mims Cook, Jr., chairman of the Fine Arts Commission, said at the meeting.
In a sign of its importance to the president, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum unveiled renderings for the 250-foot arch, which would be 165-feet tall and 165-feet wide, with a 25-foot pedestal and a giant 60-foot gilt bronze statue of Lady Liberty, “a sculptural symbol above the city. Architectural vocabulary.”
The president has said he wants it to be the world’s largest arch, modeled after the Arc de Triomphe in Paris – but bigger. It would be the equivalent of a 16- to 20-story building taller than the White House, the Lincoln Memorial and the US Capitol building. The project is already facing a legal challenge from a Vietnam War veterans group related to its scale and obstruction of views of Arlington National Cemetery.
After Bergum and lead designer Nicolas Charbonneau’s arch presentation, the commission heard widespread concerns about the scale, design and placement of the project. This is illustrated in a proposal to sit in the traffic circle between the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial.
This rendering shows the design of President Donald Trump’s proposed “Triumphal Arch” in Washington, DC. – American Commission of Fine Arts
“We had less than 1,000 commenters. That said, 100% of the comments were against the project,” said Commission Secretary Thomas Lübecke.
Lübecke read a letter from an anonymous person who warned the project would be “profoundly out of scale with its surroundings” and “seems to disregard established norms respecting existing structures, preservation of sight lines and the symbolic hierarchy of capitals and landmarks.” The arc, the person added, would set a “problematic precedent.”
Zachary Burt, community outreach and grants manager for the DC Conservation League, shared “serious concerns and strong opposition” to the project, particularly the proposed placement of the arch. The Ark will sit in a traffic circle on Columbia Island, a man-made strip of land between the Lincoln Memorial and the Arlington House, which was once home to Confederate leader Robert E. Lee’s home was and is now the centerpiece of Arlington National Cemetery.
The “visual connection” between those historic sites, Burt said, “is not just a sight. It … symbolizes the sacrifices our nation has made in pursuit of its highest ideals. The proposal for a 250-foot-tall Triumphal Arch threatens a serious vista.”
After many people spoke out against the project, H. Edward Phillips III, a lawyer from Tennessee, came out in favor of the plan. He shared that members of his family served in the military and said he didn’t see the arc as “offensive.”
Commissioners expressed overwhelming support for the Arch. One, Trump aide Chamberlain Harris, argued that it constituted a “deliberate decision” to add to the D.C. skyline. The commission voted without opposition to continue reviewing the plans.
This rendering shows the design of President Donald Trump’s proposed “Triumphal Arch” in Washington, DC. – American Commission of Fine Arts
But the committee also had some doubts about the arch’s placement, including pedestrian access to the busy traffic circle, the scope of the project and the impact it would have on the historically important scene.
Cook encouraged them to be mindful of the idea: “It’s the binding of this nation’s wounds, that bridge and maintaining the connection between those two structures is what you’re doing.”
Two D.C.-based agencies packed with Trump allies will likely approve the arch, but it could face other, more challenging reviews that require public input under the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act.
As part of those reviews, stakeholders are expected to be consulted, including Arlington National Cemetery, the National Park Service and the DC State Historic Preservation Office.
The arch also would only fit through a corridor used for flights approaching Reagan National Airport’s runway from the north, so it would need a sign-off from the Federal Aviation Administration.
The FAA requires developers to file a notice at least 45 days in advance for any structure taller than 200 feet above ground level, and for lower structures located near airports or navigation facilities. And while the FAA does not issue construction permits, local governments typically weigh the agency’s findings about a structure’s safety impact before approving projects.
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