A satellite image captures the demolition of the historic East Wing of the White House to make way for a planned new ballroom.
When completed, the ballroom will be nearly twice the size of the White House itself. The expansion will cost $300 million. according to the associated press.
President Trump issued a statement through social networks which says the ballroom “is being privately funded by many generous patriots, big American businesses,” as well as the president himself.
According to a list provided by the White HouseThe donors include a number of individual donors, as well as corporations such as Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Lockheed Martin, which manufacture the orion spaceship for NASA’s Artemis program.
The construction has faced criticism from groups such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a privately funded nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic buildings and places within the United States. in a letter published on October 22Carol Quillen, president and CEO of the National Trust, urged the Trump administration and the U.S. National Park Service to halt demolition until the administration’s plans could go through the “legally required public review processes.”
Quillen also wrote that the National Trust is “deeply concerned that the mass and height of the proposed new construction will overwhelm the White House itself” and “may also permanently alter the carefully balanced classical design of the White House with its two smaller, lower east and west wings.”
The East Wing of the White House was built in 1902 by President Theodore Roosevelt as a formal entrance for guests and visitors. It was later expanded in 1942 under the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt to conceal the construction of an emergency bunker. That same year a small movie theater was added.
In the 1930s, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt began using the East Wing to entertain guests. according to the New York Timesbeginning a long tradition in which first ladies used the wing for official functions and their own offices.
First lady Melania Trump has yet to issue a statement on the demolition of the East Wing and has rejected applications for media comment.
