Historic preservation group urges pause on East Wing demolition as Trump pushes ahead with his ballroom

By Kevin Liptak, CNN

(CNN) — One of the nation’s premier historic preservation groups on Tuesday urged the Trump administration to pause demolition of the White House East Wing, which excavators began tearing into this week to make way for President Donald Trump’s planned ballroom.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a Congressionally chartered non-profit tasked with preserving historic buildings, wrote in a letter to the National Park Service and two administration commissions that Trump’s proposed 90,000-square-foot addition would “overwhelm the White House itself — it is 55,000 square feet — and may also permanently disrupt the carefully balanced classical design of the White House.”

The alarm among preservationists at the demolition now underway reflected the shock many felt this week as images emerged of the East Wing facade being crushed into a pile of rubble.

The work continued Tuesday as the excavators tore further into the building, the sounds of rhythmic pounding and occasional crashing drifting across the 18-acre White House campus.

“You hear that sound? That’s music to my ears; I love that sound,” Trump told a group of Republican senators having lunch in the Rose Garden. Trump has said the $200 million project will be funded through private donations.

The structure being demolished includes the suite of offices traditionally used by the first lady, as well as space for White House calligraphers, certain military aides, and the social secretary. Staffers in those departments have been relocated to other areas on the complex.

The East Wing’s wood-paneled foyer has long been the main point of entry for visitors attending social events at the White House, as well as those going on tours of the building. The section emerged in its current form in 1942.

While Trump announced months ago his plans to replace the East Wing with the new ballroom — a necessary addition, he says, to accommodate large events — the demolition appears to have proceeded without an extensive public review process.

In Tuesday’s letter, the National Trust for Historic Preservation “respectfully” urged the administration to “pause demolition until plans for the proposed ballroom go through the legally required public review processes, including consultation and review by the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts, and to invite comment from the public.”

“These processes provide a crucial opportunity for transparency and broad engagement—values that have guided preservation of the White House under every administration going back to the public competition in 1792 that produced the building’s original design,” the letter read.

The two commissions the letter was addressed to — the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts — have in the past reviewed proposed additions to the White House. That includes changes to the perimeter fence and the construction of a new tennis pavilion within the past decade.

The current chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission, Will Scharf, who serves as Trump’s staff secretary, said during a meeting of the commission last month that its jurisdiction covers construction, but not demolition — suggesting the body would eventually be involved in the project, but not until after the East Wing was demolished.

“I know the president thinks very highly of this commission, and I’m excited for us to play a role in the ballroom project when the time is appropriate for us to do so,” Scharf said.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is not the only group to call for a more rigorous review of the ballroom project. Last week, before demolition began, the Society of Architectural Historians wrote in a statement, “Such a significant change to a historic building of this import should follow a rigorous and deliberate design and review process.”

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s letter. But earlier Tuesday, officials distributed a lengthy list of past construction projects at the executive mansion, suggesting the ballroom fell into a pattern of improvements to the building.

“In the latest instance of manufactured outrage, unhinged leftists and their Fake News allies are clutching their pearls over President Donald J. Trump’s visionary addition of a grand, privately funded ballroom to the White House — a bold, necessary addition that echoes the storied history of improvements and renovations from commanders-in-chief to keep the executive residence as a beacon of American excellence,” the statement read.

The images included construction of the West and East Wings, a multiyear gut renovation undertaken during Harry Truman’s administration, and the installation of a swimming pool overseen by Gerald Ford.

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