Plans for Trump's Triumphal Arch Called 'Horrifically Flawed'

The Trump administration wants to build a 250-foot arch near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. A nonprofit group called the Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) says the approval process skipped important legal steps. The group sent a letter to the National Park Service (NPS) on Thursday to share its concerns. The arch would sit at the western end of Memorial Bridge, between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.

In late May, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts gave the arch its final design approval. Critics pointed out a major problem: this approval happened before a key part of a federal law called the National Historic Preservation Act was followed. That section of the law, called Section 106, gives the public a chance to comment on big projects before they are approved. This helps protect important historic places from being harmed.

Charles Birnbaum, the founding president of TCLF, wrote that the approval process was a 'radical departure' from how these decisions are normally made. He noted that no design competition was held before the arch was selected, which he called 'a dangerous and radical decision.' The arch would be the second largest monument in Washington, D.C., after the Washington Monument. Birnbaum said the process was 'horrifically flawed from the outset.'

The NPS released a report saying the arch could have major harmful effects on the historic buildings and landscape nearby. But TCLF worries that the NPS might not issue a final official ruling about those harmful effects. Without that ruling, the public could lose its right to keep challenging the project. Birnbaum called this outcome 'both confounding and alarming.'

Birnbaum once worked at the NPS and helped write the official guidelines for protecting historic cultural landscapes. Those guidelines say that the layout and patterns of a landscape should be preserved, not changed by projects that don't fit in. He argued that a 250-foot arch placed in that location is 'undeniably incompatible development.' He also wrote that approving the arch under these circumstances could be 'unprofessional, fraudulent, and, perhaps, illegal.'

Critics say their voices may go unheard, but they plan to keep pushing back. In the meantime, arts lovers in Los Angeles have plenty to look forward to this weekend. Events include folk singer Judy Collins at The Ford, the Versa-Style Street Dance Company celebrating its 20th anniversary, and a Betty Boop Birthday Bash at the Alex Theatre in Glendale. Later in the week, 'Phantom of the Opera' begins its run in Orange County and Mozart Under the Stars lights up the Hollywood Bowl.