Megan Giles Cooney | Columnist
Americans often travel to Europe to sightsee historical sites such as the Colosseum in Rome, Buckingham Palace in London and Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
If we go to other lands to appreciate their history, where is the real sense of outrage here at home over tearing down the East Wing of our historic White House to make way for a lavish 90,000-square-foot presidential ballroom?
When President Trump first floated the idea of the ballroom, he assured the original structure would remain. Then just before demolition began in mid-October, the president said the entire East Wing had to go.
For more than a century, the White House has been known as the “People’s House” by presidents and their families. It was originally called the president’s house or the executive mansion.
In the early 1900s, Theodore Roosevelt first asserted the name change in an address to Congress: “The White House is the Property of the Nation… It’s a good thing to preserve such buildings, which keep alive our sense of continuity with the Nation’s past.”
The reference included the East Wing opened in 1902, remodeled to add a second story in 1942, and now reduced to rubble rather than a starting point for White House tours. The size of the replacement ballroom will dwarf the main White House.
Trump justifies his ballroom project with the need for more space to hold state dinners for visiting foreign leaders, luminaries and special occasions. The East Room in the East Wing seated about 200 guests; the ballroom space will handle more than 900. The interior will be gilded with gold ceiling inlays and gold accented crystal chandeliers.
Trump promises he personally, along with rich supporters, will cover the estimated $300 million cost of the project. So far 37 contributors, but not their specific amounts, are identified. They include Amazon, Apple, Meta (Facebook), Google, Lockheed Martin, T-Mobile and the family of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
There is natural conflict concern with private funding due to the suspicion of favoritism in return. Donations to the ballroom project are going through the Trust for the National Mall, the nonprofit tax-deductible philanthropic arm of the National Park Service.
The quick demolition of the East Wing without any architectural or historical society input seems like an end run — seeking forgiveness rather than asking permission. It appears much closer to a real estate transaction than a renovation of the People’s House benefiting all Americans.
By contrast, the present multimillion-pound renovations to Buckingham Palace are funded by public funds under audit and oversight by the British Government.
A devastating fire in 2019 destroyed the roof and spire of the Notre Dame Cathedral. Because the place of worship is state-owned, the French Government paid for a significant part of the rebuilding, with the rest funded through a nationwide appeal.
The French restored the cathedral to its original 12th century specifications, hiring some 1,000 craftspeople trained in medieval skills to preserve the distinctive architecture style.
The yawning East Wing empty space now on the White House grounds is a reminder some government actions can’t be reversed. Makes you wonder how we want our government to run and whether we support trashing our national treasures.
Megan Giles Cooney is a columnist for the Traverse City (MI) Record-Eagle. Reach her atmegangilescooney@gmail.com
