Less than two weeks after the White House declared the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovation complete, paint is peeling from the pool's bottom and sloughing into the water, which has developed an algae-tinted green hue.
The work this year involved draining the historic pool and applying a new finish under a $14.7 million no-bid contract. The project was presented as part of a broad effort to remake the capital, a program that also includes proposals to remove the East Wing of the White House to build a new ballroom and to erect a large arch near Arlington National Cemetery, a site that honors the war dead and other prominent Americans.
President Donald Trump announced on June 6 that the reflecting pool work had been completed. By the following Tuesday, crews had begun introducing hydrogen peroxide into the water to address an algae bloom that had turned the surface green rather than the expected dark blue.
Requests for comment from the National Park Service, which manages the National Mall where the pool sits, were not answered immediately. Atlantic Industrial Coatings, the Virginia-based firm that performed the refinishing, also did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
Visitors at the site expressed disappointment. "I want my money back after seeing this. I think our resources could be used a lot better elsewhere," said Robert Dale of Edwards, Colorado, as he viewed the pool. "I think this reflecting pool was beautiful before, before all this attention."
The pool’s early problems come amid broader controversy surrounding the administration’s renovation program in Washington. Critics have questioned the speed with which projects have been pushed forward, suggesting that standard planning processes meant to protect the capital's designed appearances have been accelerated or bypassed. The administration has rejected those criticisms as partisan and has pointed to the president’s experience in real estate when defending the design choices.
Lawmakers have also raised concerns about a separate decision to accept a $400 million airplane donated by Qatar for use as Air Force One. That aircraft, intended to ferry the president, staff, security detail and journalists, would require extensive retrofitting, security upgrades, communications work to prevent eavesdropping and missile-defense capabilities, experts have warned. Those upgrades would take both time and money to install.
The early signs of paint failure and the algae problem at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, combined with public and congressional scrutiny of other elements of the capital renovation program, have left questions about execution, costs and the timetable for completing related projects.
Sources of information in this article: statements in the public announcements about the pool's completion; observations of peeling paint and the algae bloom; the contract value and procurement type; public comments from a visitor; reported questions from lawmakers and security experts regarding the donated airplane; and the fact that the National Park Service and Atlantic Industrial Coatings did not immediately respond to requests for comment.