Work will begin in the next two weeks on President Donald Trump’s planned European-style, 250-foot arch to be built in Washington, DC, his administration confirmed Thursday.
Models of the towering creation show it mirrors the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France.
The White House confirmed in February it would be part of the president’s legacy to mark the 250th anniversary of America’s founding and 1776 declaration of independence from Britain.
AP notes the proposed gold-accented monument is one of several projects the Republican president is pursuing that will leave his lasting imprint on the national capital.
These include – but are not limited to – renaming and rejuvenating the Kennedy Center, building a huge new White House ballroom, refurbishing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and rebuilding a golf course in East Potomac Park.
“This will be one of the Great Pieces of American Architecture,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum wrote on X, “befitting the most powerful Capital in the World.”
His post included artistic impressions of what lies ahead.
The iconic landmark will be privately funded and has already received early approval from the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts.
The AP report notes groundbreaking is set to begin before the arch has received final approval from the National Capital Area Planning Commission, which greenlit the site and preliminary plans at its July meeting.
The commission is expected to take up the matter again this fall.
The arch will overlook the Potomac River on the other side of the Arlington Memorial Bridge from the Lincoln Memorial.
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