What began as an effort to beautify a D.C. landmark ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary has quickly spiraled into a mess of green water and peeling paint.
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The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is facing a range of aesthetic issues after the Trump administration’s $14 million renovation project appeared to create more problems than solutions. As National Park Service employees work around the clock to clear the water, Trump has speculated about potential vandals sabotaging the project.
Here are answers to some of the most persistent questions about the state of the Reflecting Pool, from fresh paint to U.S. Park Police arrests:
What renovations were made on the Reflecting Pool?
The Reflecting Pool has been the bane of presidencies dating back to its dedication in 1922. Built on Washington’s swampy marshland, the original basin lacked a support structure and suffered from cracks and immense leakage for decades.
A massive $34 million renovation in 2010 completely replaced the pool’s original structure and added a much-needed circulation and filtration system. But algae plagued this renovation after its completion as well, and has been a constant issue throughout the basin’s existence.
When Trump first announced his plans for resurfacing and repainting the pool “American flag blue” in April, the project was estimated to take one week and cost around $2 million. But once the water feature reopened over a month later, the final price tag had risen to over $16 million. It made use of companies handpicked by the White House and working under contracts that were not competitively bid – a consequence of what the administration described as the extreme urgency to finish the project in time for sesquicentennial celebrations.
Why is the Reflecting Pool green?
The water’s stark green tone is an algae bloom of historic proportions – but it’s far from the first the pool has seen. Summer heat turns the Reflecting Pool into a warm, shallow basin, creating prime conditions for algae growth. Disturbance from the renovations, combined with the darker hue of the pool, could explain why the growth has been so dramatic this year.
Workers on the National Mall have attempted to kill off some of the algae by pouring gallons of hydrogen peroxide into the water. National Park Service crews have also been vacuuming algae out of the pool after the Interior Department deployed “high-tech nanobubble ozone technology” to kill the organisms off. But the pool still retains much of its bright green hue.
Why is the reflecting pool’s paint peeling off?
Unlike the algae, the paint problem has no clear cause. Some pool experts have suggested the pool surface was inadequately prepared for treatment, causing the coating to float up in sheets.
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But Trump sees a different culprit: vandals. On Monday morning, the president advanced claims on social media about malicious actors cutting a 300-foot-long gash in the pool and pouring corrosive chemicals in the water.
Was the Reflecting Pool vandalized?
Although the vandalism claims are unconfirmed, Park Police have made five arrests and issued even more citations in the area.
Among the arrested is David Hearn, a three-time U.S. Olympic canoeist who says he was biking nearby when he stopped to view the Reflecting Pool. Hearn, 67, told multiple news outlets that, although he reached into the pool to feel a piece of the peeling coating, he did not intend on tearing or manipulating the paint.
Park Police arrested Hearn for destruction of government property, a misdemeanor charge that can carry up to 10 years in jail depending on the financial impact of the damage.
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District, promised Sunday to fully prosecute anyone “in a position of vandalizing or attempting to vandalize” the Reflecting Pool.
Will the Reflecting Pool be renovated again?
Trump wrote Saturday in a social media post that meetings with contractors had begun for further renovations and that the pool would likely need to be drained. On Monday morning, he wrote that the pool “is being taken care of, ASAP!”
Regardless, scientists say the warm and swampy conditions around the pool will make the algae a persistent problem throughout the summer season.
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