A federal commission unanimously approved the design concept Thursday for President Donald Trump’s massive, gold-adorned triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery, largely sidestepping concerns that its ambitious size would dominate the Washington skyline.
Members of the Commission of Fine Arts, handpicked by the White House, weighed criticism about the proposed height of the 250-foot arch but showed interest in potentially removing a towering gold statue of a winged Lady Liberty planned for the top of the structure.
Commissioners largely praised the proposal, with one member invoking the nation’s rebuilding after the Civil War.
“I’ve been watching very carefully, and the designs just get better and better and better and better and better,” said James McCrery II, an architecture professor at the Catholic University of America and the commission’s vice chair.
