President Donald Trump’s ambitious vision of building a grand ballroom next to the White House now includes the notion of altering the row of columns on the facade of the West Wing, the project architect told a federal planning commission Thursday.
Citing a need to “restore a sense of symmetry” to the historic building, architect Shalom Baranes suggested to the National Capital Planning Commission that raising the height of the colonnade could balance the two-story ballroom project proposed for the former site of the East Wing.
Trump’s demolition of the entire East Wing of the White House in October provoked an outcry in Washington, including a lawsuit by a leading preservation group to halt construction of what the president has touted as the “greatest ballroom anywhere in the world.” Some critics have questioned Trump’s plans, saying the large ballroom could dwarf the other White House buildings.
But the meeting — which Baranes called a “high-level briefing” — before a packed room was low-key throughout the entire hour with only the hint of skepticism from two commissioners representing the District of Columbia government
