Source: Washington Post
Read more: https://wapo.st/4eeTIsYThe Trump administration on Friday unveiled new renderings for President Donald Trump's planned 250-foot triumphal arch, his most significant effort to remake Washington's skyline, as officials begin the process of seeking formal approval for the controversial project.
The renderings prepared by Harrison Design feature a golden inscription reading "One Nation Under God" on the arch, which is topped with a winged Lady Liberty statue and flanked at its base by statues of four golden lions. The project is slated for Memorial Circle, a traffic roundabout near Arlington National Cemetery, which city planners have eyed for more than a century as the site of a potential monument.
The project is intended to commemorate the United States' 250th anniversary. Built to Trump's specifications, it would transform a small plot of land between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery into a dominant new monument. Architects and historic preservationists have warned that the planned arch, which would be more than twice the size of the roughly 100-foot Lincoln Memorial and tower over the nearby cemetery, would distort the intent of the existing memorials and obstruct pedestrians' views.
The renderings were filed Friday by the Interior Department with the Commission of Fine Arts, a panel of advisers on the city's architectural matters that Trump has stocked with allies. The commission is set to review the White House's proposal at a meeting Thursday.
