Trump’s arch gets overwhelmingly negative public feedback but appears poised to move forward

By Betsy Klein, Kaanita Iyer, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump’s proposed triumphal arch project received overwhelmingly negative feedback from preservationist groups and members of the public as plans for the massive structure were presented on Thursday to a key committee for the first time.

But the Commission of Fine Arts still appears poised to approve the project and took a preliminary vote to move ahead with the process. The independent federal agency, which has been 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 an arch as he takes significant steps to impose his style and taste 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,” Commission of Fine Arts Chairman Rodney Mims Cook, Jr., 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 massive 60-foot gilt bronze Lady Liberty sculpture on top, boasting that it would “strengthen the city’s symbolic architectural vocabulary.”

The president has said he wants it to be the biggest arch in the world, modeled after Paris’ Arc de Triomphe — but larger. 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 the view of the Arlington National Cemetery.

After the arch presentation from Burgum and lead designer Nicholas Charbonneau, the commission heard broad concerns about the project’s scale, design and placement. It has been pictured in the proposal to sit on a traffic circle between the Arlington National Cemetery’s entrance and the Lincoln Memorial.

“We had just under 1,000 commenters. It’s saying that 100% of the comments were against the project,” Commission Secretary Thomas Luebke said.

Luebke read one letter from an unnamed individual that warned the project “would be profoundly out of scale with its surroundings” and “appears to disregard established norms that prioritize harmony with existing structures, preservation of sight lines and respect for the symbolic hierarchy of the capitals and landmarks.” The arch, the individual added, would set a “troubling precedent.”

Zachary Burt, community outreach and grants manager for the DC Preservation League, shared “serious concerns and strong opposition” to the project, particularly the arch’s proposed placement. The arch would sit atop a traffic circle on Columbia Island, a man-made strip of land between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington House, which was once home to Confederate leader Robert E. Lee and is now a centerpiece of Arlington National Cemetery.

The “visual connection” between those historic places, Burt said, “is not just a simple view. It … symbolizes the sacrifices our nation has made in pursuit of its highest ideal. The proposal for a 250-foot-tall triumphal arch threatens the solemn vista.”

After several people spoke against the project, H. Edward Phillips III, an attorney from Tennessee, defended the plan. He shared that his family members served in the military and said he did not see the arch as “offensive.”

Commissioners largely expressed support for the arch. One, Trump aide Chamberlain Harris, argued that it constituted “an intentional decision” to add to the DC skyline. The commission voted without opposition to continue to review the plans.

But there was also some skepticism on the committee about the arch’s placement, including pedestrian access in the busy traffic circle, the scope of the project and its impact on the historically significant view.

Cook encouraged them to be mindful of the viewshed: “It is the binding of the wound of this nation, that bridge and keeping that connection between those two structures is paramount in what you are doing.”

The two DC-based bodies Trump has packed with allies will likely approve the arch, but it may face other more challenging reviews that require public input, including 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 would also sit only feet from the corridor used for flights approaching Reagan National Airport’s runways from the north, so it will require signoff from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The FAA requires developers to file notice at least 45 days before construction 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 building permits, local governments typically weigh the agency’s findings about a structure’s safety impact before approving projects.

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