A National Park Service report released Friday supports Donald Trump's proposed 250-foot-tall (76-meter) 'Independence Arch' while acknowledging it will disrupt the sightlines of dozens of Washington DC landmarks, including the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Jefferson Memorial.
The report says the arch, planned for a location adjacent to the Arlington Memorial Bridge, is likely to disrupt the historical significance of dozens of sites near Memorial Circle. Many of Washington's monuments and buildings have been deliberately planned over decades to reflect key moments in the nation's history and to evoke symbolism through sightlines connecting them to other sites.
Report backs arch despite adverse effects
The Park Service report argues that "the same characteristics that make Memorial Circle sensitive from a preservation perspective are also the characteristics that make it the historically appropriate location for the undertaking." It adds that the project's effects cannot be "fully avoided without either relocating the Arch away from the historically identified site or eliminating the principal commemorative feature, both of which would fail to meet the undertaking's purpose and need."
For this reason, the report concludes that "alternative locations outside Memorial Circle are not reasonable avoidance alternatives." The 133-page report supports Trump's plans and could bolster the administration's case in a legal challenge filed by three veterans and a group of historians.
Impact on iconic sightlines and historic sites
The proposed gilded arch, which last month received initial approval from a key federal commission, would affect the "integrity" of dozens of historic properties by changing "character-defining visual and spatial relationships" among them. One of the most prominent effects cited is that the arch would break the alignment among the Lincoln Memorial, Memorial Bridge, and Arlington House, the former home of Confederate general Robert E. Lee. That alignment was "intended to physically and symbolically unite North and South through a coordinated monumental composition extending across the Potomac River," according to the report.
The report lists dozens of sites directly affected, including the National Mall, the US Capitol, the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial, the Georgetown Historic District, the Old Naval Observatory, the Francis Scott Key Bridge, and the National Cathedral.
Legal challenge and next steps
Nicolas Sansone, an attorney with Public Citizen Litigation Group, which represents the plaintiffs, said the report "confirms what we've been saying all along: the project will have an enormous impact and transform that National Mall." Sansone added that the report underscores the legal challengers' claim that a project of this size and importance "is a decision for Congress to make" and should not be rushed through by executive decree.
