The National Park Service (NPS) has determined that President Trump’s proposed Triumphal Arch would adversely impact dozens of historic sites across Washington, D.C. The agency’s assessment, conducted as part of a Section 106 review, identified 37 to nearly 40 locations that would be affected by the arch.

The review, held from June 5 to 15 with a public comment period reopening until July 30, required federal agencies to evaluate projects that might affect sites listed or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. The NPS solicited feedback from outside groups before finalizing its findings.

Among the sites listed as adversely affected are the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, the Pentagon, the George Mason Memorial, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, the U.S. Capitol, and the National Mall Historic District. The arch’s indirect effects would also alter views within the Lady Bird Johnson Park Cultural Landscape, obstructing key sightlines to Arlington House, the Lincoln Memorial, the Potomac River, and Arlington Memorial Bridge.

The proposed arch, planned to be located along Arlington Memorial Bridge—a symbolic connection between the North and South following the Civil War—would stand 220 feet tall, making it the largest triumphal arch in the world. It would surpass the height of Mexico City’s Monumento a la Revolución and Paris’s Arc de Triomphe, which measures 164 feet.

The NPS’s findings highlight significant concerns about the arch’s impact on the historic and cultural landscape of the nation’s capital.

Sources

The Hill: Park Service finds Trump’s arch would adversely affect dozens of historic sites around DC