On Monday, before the eyes of Washington, D.C., water once again filled the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
A sign, posted by National Park Service on the premises, reads: “The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is being refilled as the National Park Service and contractors put the final touches on a historic effort to clean, repair, and beautify this iconic national landmark. As part of the normal refilling process, the water may temporarily appear cloudy before clearing.”
Earlier this year, after a restoration that involved painting the bottom of the reflecting pool—a color described by President Donald Trump as “American Flag Blue”—the new coating began to peel, prompting a second round of repairs even as Trump declared the work “totally complete.”
Atlantic Industrial Coatings, which was awarded a no-bid contract to renovate the pool, announced on its website that warranty repairs had been completed on October 2, adding, “It has been an honor to serve our great nation!”
The fenced-off, slate-blue basin had sat exposed through the summer, a stark reminder of the project’s other protracted troubles: a major algae bloom, controversial contract awards, and most recently, flaking paint. The Trump administration initially attributed the pool’s peeling coating to vandalism, leading to criminal charges against several people, including former Olympic canoeist David Hearn. The Justice Department dropped the case against Hearn in July, after a determination that the coating’s installation was “botched.”
Despite evidence contradicting the vandalism claims and a ruling barring Hearn from being prosecuted again, President Donald Trump reiterated at a Tuesday press conference that vandals had cut pieces out of the basin.
“We had vandalism there, and we have it about as vandal-proof as you can get,” he said. “But only sick people do that, and we have their pictures.”
The project has also faced a legal challenge. In May, the Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF), a nonprofit education and advocacy organization, sued the NPS; its acting director, Jessica Bowron; the Department of the Interior; and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, alleging that they bypassed required historic-preservation review in pursuit of a poorly planned renovation.
Of the basin’s new color, “American Flag Blue,” the suit noted that the pool’s original gray coloring helped preserve the visual cohesion between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.
“A blue-tinted basin is more appropriate to a resort or theme park,” Charles A. Birnbaum, TCLF’s president and chief executive, said in a statement.