Trump Administration Sued Over Wildly Over-Budget Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Changes
The Cultural Landscape Foundation has sued the Trump administration over alterations to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, seeking to halt the project via a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction, ARTnews reports. Filed Monday in federal court in Washington, D.C., the lawsuit alleges the Interior Department violated the National Historic Preservation Act and bypassed the Commission of Fine Arts by proceeding without required review before coating the basin in a bright blue finish that President Donald Trump called “American Flag Blue.” Trump initially said the work would cost under $2 million and take about a week, but federal contracting records show a roughly $13.1 million award to Atlantic Industrial Coatings LLC. The foundation’s president and CEO, Charles Birnbaum, told the Washington Post the issue is both the design intent of the pool’s muted tones and the precedent of unilateral changes to historic public landscapes, while the Interior Department said the work preserves the site ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations.
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