The Cultural Landscape Foundation has hit President Donald Trump’s administration with a lawsuit over its painting of the reflecting pool.
As part of his ongoing efforts to prepare for America’s 250th birthday festivities, the administration has taken to resurfacing the reflecting pool. The facelift includes a new coat of paint in “American Flag Blue,” a color that the president himself reportedly picked. While this doesn’t necessarily seem like a big deal by itself, the cultural nonprofit is claiming that the effort is “unlawful” and that the original color, a dark grey, should be restored until the proper procedures have been followed.
The group is asking a judge to put a stop to the work, and it appears that they are worried about more than Trump following proper procedures, which includes Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. This “requires agencies to engage in a process of consultation before they make changes to historic properties by consulting with experts and nonprofit organizations with relevant expertise that provide input on proposed changes,” according to NBC News.
“The dark grey, achromatic basin was not incidental to the design. It was the design,” wrote attorney Alexander Kristofcak. “The 1999 National Park Service Cultural Landscape Report for the Lincoln Memorial Grounds specifically identifies the dark-tiled basin as a character-defining feature of the historic landscape, noting that ‘the dark color of the tile created the illusion of greater depth and a more profound reflection.’”
“The new coloration will cause the pool to resemble a large swimming pool rather than the reflective civic landscape it was designed to be, distorting the experience of the site for the millions of visitors who come to it each year.”
But a spokesperson for the Department of the Interior argues that rather than “distorting” the experience, the color “will enhance the visitor experience by making the pool reflect the grand Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument,” according to a spokesperson.
They added that the National Park Service “is also investing in a state-of-the-art ozone nanobubbler filtration system and will now have a dedicated crew who will maintain the grounds from wildlife,” and that the work will “ensure this magical spot can be enjoyed for not only our 250th” anniversary, “but for many generations to come.”
Trump boasted about the project when he visited the site last week.
“It’s going to be a beautiful color. The color was never good, because basically it had a gray stone underneath, whether it was the concrete or the granite, it was a gray stone. And now we actually picked the color, it was called American Flag Blue, and so you can’t do better than that.”
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Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to write. Marlee also contributes to BizPac Review.
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