Trump’s arch could harm nation’s historic sites, report says

The towering 250-foot arch President Donald Trump wants to build in the heart of the nation’s capital will cause “adverse effects” to nearby historic properties and monuments if construction continues as planned, according to a National Park Service planning document, but the administration still plans to move forward.

The triumphal arch is slated to be built on a roundabout in the middle of the historically significant sightline between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery, known as Memorial Circle. The corridor offers views of several monuments that together commemorate the United State’s reunification after the Civil War and preserve the solitude of the cemetery.

“NPS recognizes that Memorial Circle is located within a highly sensitive historic and commemorative landscape and that the Undertaking’s location contributes to adverse effects to historic properties whose significance is associated with setting, design, feeling, association, spatial organization, circulation, and contributing views and vistas,” the NPS report reads.

Trump has touted plans for the arch, widely referred to by critics as the “Arc de Trump,” as a means of commemorating the 250th anniversary of America’s independence. At 250 feet tall and 165 feet wide, with a massive gold Lady Liberty statue on top, the arch would dwarf the Lincoln Memorial and stand half as tall as the Washington Monument.

If Trump does not change the location for the arch, the “adverse effects cannot be fully avoided,” according to NPS. The plan for the arch has drawn outrage from Vietnam War veterans and historic preservation groups, who argue the large structure would destroy the history preserved in the sacred sightline and disrupt burials at the cemetery.

Yet in the same document, NPS noted that “the proposed location at Memorial Circle is central to the undertaking.” The Trump administration is asking local preservation officials to sign onto the NPS document by Monday as part of a federally mandated review process required for the project to move forward, according to an email obtained by the Washington Post.

“The Triumphal Arch in Memorial Circle is going to be one of the most iconic landmarks not only in Washington, D.C., but throughout the world,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told MS NOW. “It will enhance the visitor experience at Arlington National Cemetery for veterans, the families of the fallen, and all Americans alike.”

The NPS report listed resolutions the Trump administration says will mitigate the potential damage. Among them were placing signs that explain the project to the public, prohibiting unnecessary lighting and other ideas to limit the scope of construction, including a plan to reduce disturbances to ceremonial events at Arlington National Cemetery during building.

The National Park service did not immediately respond to MS NOW’s request for comment.

Agreement from the historic preservationists and other groups by Monday would expedite final approval for the project.

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