The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts unanimously approved the concept of President Trump’s proposed 250-foot Triumphal Arch on Thursday, but a key commissioner urged designers to lower the height and get rid of three massive golden-winged figures on top.
Commission Vice Chairman James C. McCrery, a top D.C. architect whose firm drew the preliminary design for the new White House ballroom, said he wanted to see a rendering of the arch at a height of just 166 feet and without the golden statues.
“I wonder if you need those up there,” Mr. McCrery told representatives of the D.C. architectural firm Harrison Design.
Mr. Trump’s proposed arch, which would be built in Memorial Circle on the Virginia side of the Potomac River, has drawn raves from his base but significant opposition from preservationists, Democrats and other critics. Opponents say the proposed arch is far too big, will dwarf other federal monuments and disrupt the somber sightline extending from Arlington National Cemetery to the 99-foot Lincoln Memorial.
Mr. Trump ordered an extra-tall arch — 250 feet in height from the base of the memorial to the tip of the central winged-figure’s torch — to commemorate America’s 250th anniversary this year.
“One Nation Under God,” and “Liberty and Justice For All,” would be inscribed in gold lettering on the top of either side of the arch. The monument would be topped with a 174-foot by 92-foot viewing deck.
Mr. McCrery, whose firm has a solid reputation for rehabilitating historic D.C. buildings, delicately suggested that a smaller structure would be more in scale with the rest of the federal enclave.
The golden-winged figure is 60 feet tall and is adorned on each side by smaller golden eagles.
Lopping off the top 84 feet, which would eliminate the three golden statues, would shorten the structure by a full eight-and-a-half stories and would put the size of the arch in scale with the Lincoln Memorial, Mr. McCrery said.
“You have that eight and a half stories of stuff, above 16 and a half stories of stuff,” he told Harrison Design architect Nicolas Charbonneau. “And I’m wondering if this arch doesn’t better participate in the language of Washington D.C.’s monumental architecture without it, rather than with it.”
Mr. McCrery was the original architect for the proposed White House ballroom, but was replaced in November by the D.C. firm Shalom Baranes. The White House denied claims that Mr. McCrery clashed with Mr. Trump over the ballroom’s size. Aides said Mr. McCrery’s firm was too small to handle the massive project and that he continues to serve as a consultant.
Others on the seven-member arts commission, which is populated entirely with Trump appointees, praised the arch proposal.
“I would argue that this is an intentional decision to create and add to that deliberate skyline to honor the original vision for the city, and the original vision for Memorial Circle,” said Commissioner Chamberlain Harris, who serves as White House deputy director of Oval Office operations.
The commission unanimously approved advancing the concept for the arch but included Mr. McCrery’s suggestions.
Both the proposed arch and the ballroom are under court challenge.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
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