Cultural Landscape Foundation Sues Trump Administration Over $13.1M Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Repairs

Work to fix and paint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington is facing legal and scheduling scrutiny as the project’s price tag has risen to $13.1m, federal records show, with the no-bid contract awarded to Atlantic Industrial Coatings by the Department of the Interior.

“Cost of Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool repairs nearing $15M Contracts were awarded without going through a competitive bidding process”

ABC News

The BBC reported that the Cultural Landscape Foundation filed its lawsuit on Monday asking a judge to halt the renovations, and it said Trump told reporters that "for the first time since 1922 [the reflecting pool is] going to work properly".

ABC News

The New York Times reported that Interior Department staff members raised concerns about the quality and speed of the repair work, saying bubbles and small holes appeared in one of the layers meant to waterproof the pool.

The New York Times also said the documents raise the possibility that the work may not be finished by the government’s deadline of May 22, even though the government argued there was an urgent need to have it ready for the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations.

ABC News said the cost of the reflecting pool repairs is nearing $15 million, and it quoted the Department of the Interior’s contracting documents about an "unusual and compelling urgency" to complete the work in time for the 250th anniversary event series.

Trump initially said he had picked the contractor and then said he did not know it, and the New York Times reported that he later distanced himself from Atlantic Industrial Coatings.

In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote, “I didn’t give out the contract, ‘Interior’ did, to a contractor I did not know, and have never used before,” as the New York Times described the shift in his position.

BBC

The New York Times reported that uneven application of the tinted waterproofing left the pool mottled in varying shades of blue, and it said both issues were being addressed while raising the possibility of missing the May 22 deadline.

ABC News reported that the Department of the Interior said delaying the award long enough for competitive procurement would prevent the National Park Service from completing the work in time to reopen the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool for the Nation's 250th anniversary event series.

ABC News also said the Interior Department added $6.2 million to the contract last week, bringing the repainting total to nearly $15 million, while Trump argued in an April 23 Oval Office video that the project would cost $1.5 million.

A federal lawsuit filed by The Cultural Landscape Foundation seeks to halt ongoing renovations to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on the National Mall, arguing the project unlawfully alters a historic national landmark without required preservation review.

“Washington — A nonprofit architectural group is suing to block the Trump administration's blue resurfacing of the Reflecting Pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, arguing the government is not following congressionally mandated procedures before changing the historic feature”

CBS News

NBC News reported that attorneys for the Cultural Landscape Foundation argued the resurfacing is “unlawful” and that it should be restored to its original color until the administration follows congressionally mandated procedures.

NBC News also quoted attorney Alexander Kristofcak saying, “The dark grey, achromatic basin was not incidental to the design. It was the design,” while the suit says the new coloration will cause the pool to resemble a large swimming pool rather than the reflective civic landscape it was designed to be.

The suit says no consulting parties have been notified, engaged, or given an opportunity to participate, and it asks a judge to immediately stop the work being directed and overseen by President Donald Trump.

In parallel, USA Today reported that the reflecting pool overhaul is being funded through the Department of the Interior's existing budget, meaning the $13.1 million price tag is being footed by federal taxpayers ahead of the 250th anniversary celebrations.