NCPC Approves Trump’s 250-Foot Arch by Arlington Cemetery

The National Capital Planning Commission voted 8-4 on Thursday night to approve final site and building plans for President Donald Trump’s proposed 250-foot triumphal arch on Memorial Circle, CBS News reported, clearing a major federal planning hurdle as lawsuits seek to stop construction. The Associated Press reported the same night that the vote gave final approval to the project near downtown Washington and that administration officials have said construction could begin within a day.

CBS News said the online session ran nearly nine hours of public comment from members of Congress, veterans, architects and District of Columbia and Virginia residents before the vote. More than 1,300 public comments reached the commission, most opposing the project, according to CBS News.

Height, site and design

Documents filed with the commission and cited by CBS News describe a 166-foot arch topped with three gilded figures — a winged female figure flanked by flying eagles — for an overall height of 250 feet at the center of Memorial Circle on Columbia Island, across the Potomac from the Lincoln Memorial and near the approach to Arlington National Cemetery. The Associated Press put the height at about 76 meters.

The Federal Aviation Administration determined the structure would pose no hazard to air navigation near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, CBS News reported, with a condition for safety lighting that includes a nonstandard eternal flame and continuous floodlighting. The commission’s materials describe an observation deck; the Trump administration has estimated daily visitors could range from about 2,000 to 22,400, CBS News said. Build time is expected to take about three years. Cost and funding sources remain unclear in the public filings described by CBS News.

NCPC Executive Director Mark Paoletta recommended approval ahead of the meeting and called the design the “grandest arch ever built by mankind,” CBS News reported. Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., told the panel the arch would be “illegal” and would “disrupt the solemn connection” between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington. Marine veteran Jimi Shaughnessy said a dominating arch with a “carnival-like atmosphere” would be “abhorrent and insulting” to those buried nearby, according to CBS News.

Court fights still open

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan is weighing requests to temporarily block construction. Vietnam War veterans and an architectural historian, plus Virginia and the District of Columbia in a separate suit, argue the administration lacks congressional authorization and has skipped required procedures, CBS News reported. In an order Tuesday, Chutkan required the government to notify her within one hour of any NCPC vote and give 30 minutes’ notice before construction preparation, CBS News said.

The Justice Department told the court last month that excavation and foundation work lasting six to eight months could begin as soon as Thursday once approvals were in hand, according to earlier reporting carried into Thursday’s coverage. In a Wednesday night filing cited by CBS News, the administration said a construction company “may be — but is not necessarily — arranging off-site preparations for construction mobilization in anticipation of permit approval.”

Developing: NCPC’s public project database still listed the Nov. 5 Commission Action as “Not found” after the vote; Judge Chutkan has not issued a construction injunction, and no dual-confirmed report shows ground broken on Memorial Circle.

Sources: CBS News, Associated Press