Planning Commission Backs 33,000-Square-Foot White House Screening Center in Preliminary Vote
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 3
Planning Commission Backs 33,000-Square-Foot White House Screening Center in Preliminary Vote
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 3
Summary
A unanimous National Capital Planning Commission vote on Thursday gave preliminary approval to President Donald Trump’s plan for a 33,000-square-foot visitor screening center on White House grounds.
The facility would replace the temporary Secret Service trailers now used to screen visitors, with an entrance at Sherman Park and much of the structure built underground.
Final approval is still pending, but the commission is expected to advance the project after already backing Trump’s 90,000-square-foot White House ballroom and a proposed 250-foot triumphal arch.
Questions remain over design details, including whether the roof should carry solar panels and how vehicles would drop off visitors without stopping in the street.