By Jonathan J. Cooper
President Donald Trump’s (click here) plan to paint a 19th-century historic landmark building next to the White House would diminish the historic character of the White House complex, the Trump administration concluded in a draft environmental assessment published Friday.
Trump has suggested the massive Eisenhower Executive Office Building be painted as part of his push to remake and beautify the nation’s capital. The plan, estimated to cost at least $7.5 million, has alarmed preservationists, architects, historians and others who argue that granite is not meant to be painted and that paint would trap moisture and degrade the stone.
Trump last year said the building’s gray exterior is a “really bad color.”
The building’s architect, Alfred B. Mullet, hand-selected the construction materials, which “are central to the building’s historic character and original design intent,” the environmental assessment concluded....
We can use the money more productively than this.
