The National Capital Planning Commission released more than 9,000 pages of public comments opposing President Donald Trump’s $400 million ballroom project ahead of a Thursday public hearing.
The U.S. Commission on Fine Arts and the NCPC are overseeing the controversial ballroom’s construction. In January, the Trump-stacked CFA approved the ballroom. The NCPC’s Thursday meeting will include a public hearing, with about 100 people — including architects, preservation experts, and ordinary citizens — expected to testify virtually.
A staff report prior to the meeting acknowledged that a substantial number of public comments opposed the project. Despite this, the report recommended moving ahead with the project.
On Monday, the NCPC released a document outlining more than 32,000 comments from politicians, architects, preservation experts, and regular citizens. The vast majority of comments opposed the project. Most concerns centered on logistics, the subversion of the approval process, and the destruction of a historic landmark.
The document included a letter from last October written by Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH), co-chair of the Congressional Historic Preservation Caucus. Turner expressed his concerns about the East Wing demolition.
“The stark images of the East Wing demolished in mere days were deeply disturbing to Americans who cherish preservation of our nation’s history,” he wrote.
There were hardly any supportive comments in the document. Larysa Kurylas, a Washington, D.C.-based architect, strongly opposed the ballroom. “I do not think that a gargantuan gold-encrusted ballroom represents the values that the United States was founded upon,” she wrote.
In that same letter, Kurylas offered several design recommendations to the NCPC. Suggestions included reducing the size of the ballroom by half, reducing the height of the ballroom to one story, and adding the first lady’s office to the West Wing.
At Thursday’s meeting, some are expected to take aim at Chairman Will Scharf, White House staff secretary and Trump’s former personal lawyer. “You are complicit in the destruction of a national monument,” wrote one person in prepared testimony.
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Despite the public’s plethora of negative comments, the vote is expected to pass. Last July, Trump stacked the NCPC with three new members, all White House officials.
The ballroom is slated to be two stories, 22,000 square feet, and be able to hold 1,000 seated dinner guests. It will also have room for the first lady’s office and an updated movie theater.
