Summary
- Demolition for Trump’s new White House ballroom can begin immediately.
- Trump-appointed commission head said no approval needed for demolition.
- The ballroom will be $200 million, 90,000 sq ft, seating 650 guests.
- Construction begins in the East Wing, offices will be temporarily relocated.
At a public meeting of the National Capital Planning Commission, White House staff secretary Will Scharf stated that the board had no authority to perform site preparation or demolition work for buildings on government property.
“What we deal with is essentially construction, vertical build,”
Scharf said. He called Trump’s promised ballroom “one of the most exciting construction projects in the modern history of the district.”
The commission's public hearing on Thursday was the last one planned before the anticipated start of construction on a $200 million, 90,000-square-foot ballroom that will significantly change the size and appearance of the East and West Wings of the White House. Construction projects and significant upgrades to government facilities in the Washington region must be approved by the planning commission.
Scharf, however, distinguished between rebuilding and demolition, stating that the committee was only needed to inspect the latter.
“I think any assertion that this commission should have been consulted earlier than it has been, or it will be, is simply false,”
he said, later adding,
“I’m excited for us to play a role in the ballroom project when the time is appropriate for us to do so.”
Asked after the meeting if the eventual approval process might delay work on the ballroom, Scharf said,
“Demolition and site preparation work can certainly occur, but if you’re talking about actually building anything, then, yeah, it should go through our approval process.”
“Given the president’s history as a builder, and given the plans that we’ve seen publicly I think this will be a tremendous addition to the White House complex, a sorely needed addition,”
Scharf said.
Before becoming a politician and reality TV star, Trump was a building tycoon. He has enjoyed personally supervising renovation projects at the White House and climbed on the building's top with construction authorities last month.
It will be the first structural alteration to the Executive Mansion since the Truman Balcony was constructed in 1948, and the most recent addition to what is known as "The People's House" since the Republican president took office again in January.
In addition to installing enormous flagpoles on the north and south lawns to fly the American flag, Trump has significantly redecorated the Oval Office with cherubs, gilded flourishes, presidential portraits, and other objects.
What approval authority does the federal commission usually have over White House projects?
The NCPC reviews plans before construction or renovation happens on federally owned property and sites within the National Capital Region and that sites like the White House are consistent with their historical preservation objectives and architectural guidelines, urban design objectives, and environmental considerations.
Most importantly, any significant construction, demolition, or alterations to federally owned property, especially properties of national historical and governmental significance, typically require consideration by the NCPC and approval obtained before proceeding further.
The NCPC provides a public process for engaging input on projects, and leverages input and process alignment with other agencies including the Commission of Fine Arts, the National Park Service, and local historical preservation offices, to achieve a balance between development and preservation.