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President Donald Trump’s design for the triumphal arch he wants built at an entrance to the nation’s capital moved a step forward on Thursday after a key agency reviewed the proposal for the first time.
One commissioner suggested changes, including losing the Lady Liberty-like statue and pair of eagles that would sit on top of the arch and add to its height.
The arch is one of several projects that the Republican president is pursuing alongside a White House ballroom to leave his lasting imprint on Washington.
The US Commission of Fine Arts voted to approve the concept design for the arch. The seven commissioners, all appointed by Trump, will review an updated version of the design before taking a final vote at a future meeting.
Trump said on social media that the arch “will be the GREATEST and MOST BEAUTIFUL Triumphal Arch, anywhere in the World” and a “wonderful addition to the Washington D.C. area for all Americans to enjoy for many decades to come!”.
Also on the agenda for the monthly meeting of the US Commission of Fine Arts, whose seven members were appointed by the Republican president, is his plan to paint the gray granite exterior of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House white.
A third White House-related project, construction of an underground center to conduct security screenings of tourists and other guests, is also up for consideration.
A separate oversight panel, the National Capital Planning Commission, opened its consideration of the visitors’ center last month. It should receive Trump’s arch design soon for consideration and an approval vote.
The arch would stand 250ft tall (76 meters) from its base to a torch held aloft by a Lady Liberty-like figure atop the structure. The figure would be flanked up top by two eagles and guarded at the base by four lions – all gilded. The phrases “One Nation Under God” and “Liberty and Justice for All” would be inscribed in gold lettering atop either side of the monument.
The arch would be built on a human-made island managed by the National Park Service on the Virginia side of the Potomac River at the end of Memorial Bridge from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. The arch would dwarf the Lincoln Memorial, which stands at 99ft (30 meters) tall.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said on Wednesday that the 250ft height will honor the US’s 250 years of existence.
But it is already the subject of litigation. A group of veterans and a historian have sued in federal court to block construction on the grounds that the arch will disrupt the sightline between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington House at Arlington National Cemetery, among other reasons.
Meanwhile, a federal judge who halted construction of Trump’s $400m White House ballroom clarified on Thursday that the administration can proceed with below-ground construction of a bunker and other “national security facilities” at the site.
Richard Leon, a US district judge in Washington, issued his latest ruling in a lawsuit over the ballroom project several days after an appeals court instructed him to reconsider the possible national security implications of stopping construction.
Government lawyers had argued that the project includes critical security features to guard against a range of possible threats, such as drones, ballistic missiles and biohazards.
Leon had barred work from proceeding without congressional approval, but his 31 March order suspended enforcement of that order for two weeks. The appeals court extended that stay until Friday, but Leon stayed his latest decision for another week, which gives the administration more time to seek supreme court review.
Leon, who was nominated to the bench by the Republican president George W Bush, said he was ordering a stop only to above-ground construction of the planned ballroom, apart from any work needed to cover or secure that part of the project. Otherwise, the Trump administration is free to proceed with construction of any excavations, bunkers, military installations and medical facilities below the ballroom.
