Washington DC—Wednesday afternoon several DC area Veterans and supporters escalated the fight over the Triumphal Arch with a visit to the Harrison Architectural Firm behind the design. They carried umbrellas with protest markings and messages opposing the arch project as well as several other memorial rebrands under White House supervision.
Harrison Design Architecture firm located in a tucked away office in Georgetown is the designer behind the non-competitive contract awarded for the Triumphal Arch. It is not yet clear why a prominent memorial project that would significantly alter the DC skyline was awarded the project without a competitive bid.
Activists stood outside the architectural firm’s offices in Georgetown and staged an umbrella protest drawing attention to the location of the firm.
The $250 million construction project is set to begin any day now and it has resulted in Veterans mobilizing to oppose it over its proximity to Arlington National Cemetery. The 250 foot high monument would overshadow every burial there and forever change the hollowed ground under which 430,000 Veterans and their spouses are buried.
Last Friday one Veteran flew from Hawaii just to participate in a protest of the arch at Memorial Circle, site of the planned construction.
Retired Army Veteran, Colonel Ann Wright, an officer with 27 years experience in the Army said, the arch would be built, “over our dead bodies. It’s for him, Mr. Bonespurs with five deferments from the military.” Col. Wright was emphatic that there would be opposition to the Arch, saying, “A cold day in hell this thing is going up.”
Col Wright was joined at the protest action by another Retired Air Force Colonel as well as Veterans from other periods of service, including a Vietnam Era Veteran.
Veterans and supporters have been staking out the nearby construction site and noting that surveyor flags, paint markers, and tree removals have taken place over the past few weeks.
Early on Wednesday, September 23, drilling equipment was brought in purportedly to begin sampling the sediment underneath Memorial Circle. This is a necessary set in determining the sufficiency and stability of the large structure. The height of the arch would top out at 25 stories. It would be 2 1/2 times the height of the Lincoln Memorial and more than double the height of the Alexandria House, a property once owned by Confederate General Robert E. Lee. The arch would occlude the line of sight between the two existing structures.
Metal fencing was erected around the drilling equipment. Several protesters stood in pouring rain early Wednesday holding signs and banners towards morning commuters, encouraging them to voice their opposition to the arch.
The arch site is not more than 50 feet from the Ladybird Johnson Dogwood and tulip gardens, planted in 1968. President And Lady Bird Johnson planted the trees in 1968 as a part of Lady Bird Johnson Memorial Gardens to encourage environmentalism across the country.
There has been little reporting about the possibility that the few remaining dogwoods may follow the same fate that a number of cherry trees felled in preparation for Trump’s golf course on Haines Point. The dogwood tree is the Virginia State tree.
The arch construction plans have not discussed with any certainty that the remaining dogwood trees at Memorial Circle will be disturbed. Four dogwoods remain from the original garden at the North end of Memorial Circle near the entrance to Memorial Bridge. A 4’ x 5’ plaque nearby describes the purpose of the Lady Bird Memorial Gardens.
According to Virginia State Code, cutting down a dogwood is a violation of State Law and can result in fines of $500.00 to $10,000.00. Virginia State Code § 10.1-1127.1. Tree conservation ordinance; civil penalties, reads, in part: “Memorial tree” means any tree that has been individually designated by the local governing body to be a special commemorating memorial. Violations of such local ordinance shall be punishable by civil penalties not to exceed $2,500 for each violation.
Another set of trees—weeping willows—were cut down and removed from the Kennedy Center grounds in preparation for “renovations” at that site. Word of the Kennedy Center closure and possible renovations triggered a massive local response on Friday when an estimated 10,000 surrounded the Kennedy Center in opposition to possible plans to demolish and rebrand the iconic arts center with Trump’s name.
DCMG will continue updating this story as it develops.
