WASHINGTON — On a typical spring morning in D.C., the area around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool bustles with runners, photographers, tourists and families of ducks.
This Monday, however, the 2,030-foot-long pool sat completely empty, save for a smattering of construction vehicles, portable toilets and traffic cones. In one of the corners of the drained pool, workers stood in a cluster, spraying the bottom with what looked like blue paint.
“I honestly can’t tell what they’re doing right now,” said Laurie Collins, a lifelong D.C. resident who was taking pictures of the scene to update the nearly 180,000 followers of her Instagram account @dccitygirl. “The way it seems that they’re spraying this paint. It’s probably going to take them a year to finish it.”
The pool is being resurfaced as part of President Trump’s efforts to reshape iconic parts of the city. He says the project will take one week and cost $2 million. The overhaul would turn the reflecting pool from its longtime gray hue to a swimming pool-like blue.
The Department of the Interior told NPR on Tuesday that it expects work to be completed “by the end of May” instead. “The light-blue base coat visible over the weekend is a standard step in the multi-layer process and serves as the foundation for the final finish,” the department said in an email.
Trump told reporters last Thursday that he is working with one of his best “pool builders” from his real estate development days to clean up the pool, fix some of its joints and resurface it with “industrial-grade” material in the color “American flag blue.”
The following day, Trump shared photos on Truth Social of workers using paint rollers to coat the concrete in a vivid dark blue. When NPR visited on Monday, the shade looked more subdued — and workers had seemingly switched from paint rollers to sprayers.
Passersby peeked at the scene through holes in black tarps on the tree-lined walking paths, and some walked down the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to take it in from above. Reactions were mixed: Some people welcomed the changes, while others dismissed them as a costly waste of time.
Jalisa Cater, a fifth-generation Washingtonian and professional tour guide, just wishes the renovations weren’t taking place during peak tourist season. She says some of her visitors, including that day’s group from Colorado, have been disappointed to see the pool in its current state.
Leave a Reply