Latest news with #NationalHistoricPreservationActof1966
Boston Globe
03-08-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Experts raise concerns over Trump's White House ballroom renovation plans
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The White House, the Supreme Court building, the Capitol, and all their 'related buildings and grounds' are exempt from the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, which requires federal agencies to assess and mitigate adverse effects to historic properties and seek consultation through a formal review process. Advertisement Instead, the White House has its own committee that provides advice on the 'preservation and the interpretation of the museum character' of the building. The Committee for the Preservation of the White House — chaired by the director of the National Park Service — is made up of several federal officials and a number of members appointed by the president. Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, said Thursday in a news release that the administration was 'fully committed to working with the appropriate organizations to preserving the special history of the White House.' Advertisement Still, the committee's recommendations are not binding, giving the president significant leeway to do as he wishes. 'In most cases, you're not going to have a lot of binding obligations to historic buildings,' said Michael Spencer, a professor of historic preservation at the University of Mary Washington. The sheer scale of the project — a giant ballroom attached to the East Wing — worries preservationists. 'It could do some harm to the property overall,' said Richard Longstreth, professor of American studies at George Washington University. 'There aren't any checks and balances here, unfortunately.' Spencer said his expectations on preservation were 'pretty low.' 'We're oftentimes viewed as getting in the way of progress, and I would say in this particular instance, you've got a lot of strong personalities and they're under no obligation to really follow best practices as preservation puts forth,' he said. Jonathan Jarvis, former director of the National Park Service, which is responsible for the upkeep of the White House and its grounds, said any additions made to the White House must follow the architectural design of the building. 'You couldn't put something on the side of the building that doesn't match it historically in terms of its architecture, coloration, and style,' he said. He cast doubt on the timeline the Trump administration proposed, calling its plans to finish a project of this scale by the end of Trump's term 'optimistic.' 'You don't see one of those projects go that fast,' he said. 'It'll be a rush to get it done.' Advertisement Jarvis, who was the director of the National Park Service from 2009 to 2017, said construction at the White House is a 'complicated process' because it is 'not just normal construction.' 'It's the White House — it has to survive a terrorist attack,' he said. He added that every step of the process would need to be evaluated to ensure that nothing 'is being compromised architecturally or from a security standpoint.' Stewart D. McLaurin, president of the White House Historical Association, said the White House has gone through numerous changes to its interior and exterior since the cornerstone was laid in 1792, and many of them faced resistance. He said many of those changes made the White House what it is today. 'The South Portico, the North Portico, the East Wing, the West Wing, and the Truman Balcony all raised concerns at the time — but today, we can't imagine the White House without these iconic elements,' he said. It remains unclear whether the Committee for the Preservation of the White House, which works in tandem with the White House Historical Association, has provided recommendations or raised concerns about Trump's ballroom. A spokesperson for the historical association, Jessica Fredericks, did not respond to questions about the committee's position on the project. In addition to the director of the National Park Service, the committee is composed of representatives from the White House, the Smithsonian Institution, the Commission of Fine Arts, the National Gallery of Art, and a handful of presidential appointees. Trump has not nominated a park service director, a position that requires Senate confirmation, or announced the appointments of individuals to serve on the committee. The terms of 13 individuals that former President Joe Biden appointed to the committee in 2023 expired when Trump began his second term, according to a government database. Jessica Bowron, the comptroller of the National Park Service, is currently serving as its acting director. Advertisement The president tapped McCrery Architects as the lead architect of the project. James McCrery, the company's founding principal architect, was appointed by Trump in 2019 to serve a four-year term on the Commission of Fine Arts. He called the ballroom a necessary addition to the White House, where presidents have 'faced challenges hosting major events.' McCrery said he would preserve 'the elegance of its classical design and historical importance' of the White House. Questions about who is funding the project are also still largely unanswered. White House officials said the president and 'other patriot donors' would pay for the renovations but declined to give details. This article originally appeared in
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Yahoo
Hickory Nut Gorge recovery, construction, timeline, Chimney Rock Park: What to know
BAT CAVE - Jim and Marcie Kane moved to Bat Cave in August 2024, having fallen in love with the Hickory Nut Gorge community. Just over a month later, they were hiking up Grant Mountain to escape Tropical Storm Helene flooding, past where a waterfall had wiped out the road, they said. In a little house 30 feet above Hickory Creek, the couple said they thought they'd "be fine." Though they were blessed not to get any flooding in the house, the river "took out the road instead," Marcie Kane told the Citizen Times. Jim Kane, 84, reminisced on how they had pictured themselves driving the three or so miles to Chimney Rock to grab dinner, or ice cream, or to simply walk amid the beauty of the surrounding peaks. Despite their still-standing house, there's a lot of loss, he said. "Chimney Rock was our community to get to know. The other day, I just realized, we got some isolation now because we've lost that community. I think they're going to build back, but for the time being ...," Kane trailed off, shaking her head. The North Carolina Department of Transportation held public meetings in Bat Cave and Lake Lure at the end of February to receive public input on the agency's proposed plans to reconstruct U.S. 74 Alternative, U.S. 64 and N.C. 9. All three are vital throughfares to bring visitors and business to towns in the Hickory Nut Gorge — east of Asheville — that rely on tourism spending, after Helene wiped away the fall season right before its peak. More: 'Don't forget us': Bat Cave residents decry 'disaster tourists,' comment on recovery plan NC DOT engineers are working to restore access to Chimney Rock State Park. In less than six months, Lago Vista Road could be extended the necessary quarter-mile to connect with Chimney Rock State Park Road, which could serve as the new temporary pathway for park visitors and a much-needed economic boost. "(DOT) almost has the temporary road completed, and they hope to open it up to traffic in March, and I think that's when things will get a little bit back to normal," said Mike Patton, DOT resident engineer leading the U.S. 64 construction. NC DOT engineers have proposed four possible options for replacing the bridge to the park, which was destroyed by the Broad River during Helene. Replace both the Chimney Rock Park Road and Southside Drive bridges where they stood. Build one bridge to serve both the park and Southside Drive, near where the Southside Drive bridge used to be, either with a roundabout or an intersection. Build one bridge near where the original Chimney Rock Park Road used to be, either with a roundabout or an intersection. Rebuild the Chimney Rock Road bridge where it used to be, to serve both the park and Southside Drive. This option would require a review under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, which could take up to a year. "The park is hoping to reopen by Memorial Day, so those (bridges) are certainly going to be a priority," said Brian Burch, senior project manager with HNTB and lead on the U.S. 74A project. The Citizen Times reached out to North Carolina State Parks to confirm a timeline for reopening. More: Sneak peek at I-40 reopening through Pigeon River Gorge after Helene: expect delays The French Broad River Metropolitan Planning Organization has asked NC DOT to consider adding biking accommodations to U.S. 74A, according to Burch. Pointing to the proposed road concept, Burch said they would add 2-foot paved shoulders wherever possible on each side of the road, expanding it to 11 feet wide from Bat Cave to Chimney Rock. "Which is not really a bike path, but it does improve safety," Burch said. Since these are emergency response projects, Burch said there are some limits to funding. The Federal Highway Administration will reimburse the state for replacing the road that was there before. Since there was no multiuse path along the highway before, there would be some funding challenges to making the road multimodal. "It's possible we may be able to build something back that Federal Highways would agree is prudent and they would reimburse the state for that," Burch said. "We're not far enough down the road yet to know that, but I know Chimney Rock Village is certainly interested in that and the DOT is interested in that." Travel on the three main highways through the area remains limited to locals only. Construction is scheduled to begin March 3 for U.S. 64, which will be the "lifeline" for the area, according to Patton. Since the roadway wasn't as badly damaged, they hope to finish U.S. 64 as soon as possible, and use the two-lane road to bring staffing, material and equipment in to reconstruct U.S. 74A. The goal, Patton said, is to get U.S. 64 back to two lanes within five or six months. The contract for the project ends in September 2026. Once reconstruction starts on the Gerton section of U.S. 74A sometime in March, the project could take 18 to 24 months to complete, depending on how long they can close the road for heavier construction periods, according to Burch. If closures are extremely limited, it could add as much as a year to the project, he said. Burch said they are expecting to start work on both the Chimney Rock bridges and U.S. 64 bridge in the summer, with remaining work on 74A in Chimney Rock to start late in the summer or early fall. Both NC DOT's projects are currently in the public comment period. Comments for 74A Chimney Rock can be submitted online at or via email at US74AChimneyRock@ Information on the 74A project in Bat Cave and Gerton can be found at The public can submit comments on the webpage or by emailing US74AGerton@ Ryley Ober is the Public Safety Reporter for Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at rober@ and follow her on Twitter @ryleyober This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Hickory Nut Gorge after Helene: road construction, Chimney Rock Park
