"Photos of construction teams knocking down parts of the East Wing, first revealed by The Washington Post on Monday, shocked preservationists, raised questions about White House overreach and lack of transparency, and sparked complaints from Democrats that President Donald Trump was damaging "the People's House" to pursue a personal priority. "They're wrecking it," said Martha Joynt Kumar, a political scientist and professor emeritus at Towson University in Maryland. "And these are changes that can't be undone. They're destroying that history forever.""
"A White House spokesman said that the "entirety" of the East Wing would eventually be "modernized and rebuilt." The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a nonprofit created by Congress to help preserve historic buildings, sent a letter Tuesday to administration officials, warning that the planned 90,000-square-foot ballroom "will overwhelm the White House itself," which is about 55,000 square feet."
Demolition began Monday with the disappearance of the White House's eastern entrance and continued Tuesday with destruction of much of the East Wing. Photographs and eyewitness accounts showed construction teams removing parts of the East Wing. Preservationists expressed shock and warned that irreversible historical damage was occurring. The National Trust for Historic Preservation warned that a proposed 90,000-square-foot ballroom would overwhelm the roughly 55,000-square-foot White House and urged officials to pause demolition pending required public review. A White House spokesman said the entirety of the East Wing will be modernized and rebuilt. White House officials characterized criticism as manufactured outrage and emphasized the ballroom will be privately funded.
Read at Boston.com
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