Story Content

President Donald Trump has proclaimed his grand plans to install a 250-foot arch (also known as the Independence Arch), officially called the Triumphal Arch, on the front of the US, which has been presented to the Commission of Fine Arts and has new architectural renderings released by the US Department of the Interior.

Based on the design of Harrison Design, this structure would be erected on a traffic circle on Columbia Island next to the Arlington Memorial Bridge and the Arlington National Cemetery—across the Potomac River, right in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Its height would be over 250 feet, that is, more than 2 times the height of the 99-foot Lincoln Memorial and the tallest triumphal arch in the world.

Contemporary drawings depict a great white arch topped with a 60-foot gilded winged Lady Liberty in possession of a torch, two 24-foot golden eagles, and four golden lions at the foot. There are inscriptions with texts that include "One Nation Under God" and "Liberty and Justice for All."

The project has drawn controversy and is meant as a highlight to the 250th anniversary celebrations of America and its size and effect on the historic landscape. Plans are to have the Commission of Fine Arts discuss the designs next week. It has been praised by proponents as an ambitious nationalistic icon and disapproved of by critics who believe it may dwarf the monuments currently in place.