{"id":562262,"date":"2026-04-03T13:46:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T13:46:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/562262\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T13:46:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T13:46:13","slug":"ncpc-approves-east-wing-ballroom-in-final-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/562262\/","title":{"rendered":"NCPC approves East Wing ballroom in final vote"},"content":{"rendered":"

The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC<\/a>) presided today over a packed agenda, but the main draw was a final vote on the White House<\/a> East Wing Modernization Project, the Trump<\/a> administration\u2019s proposal for a\u00a0ballroom<\/a>\u00a0designed by\u00a0Shalom Baranes Associates<\/a>.<\/p>\n

NCPC approved the $400 million project that will deliver a new 90,000-square-foot ballroom on White House grounds above what Trump recently called a \u201csecret\u201d military complex in the basement. On Sunday, Trump told reporters that \u201cthe ballroom essentially becomes a shed for what\u2019s being built under.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the president\u2019s statements about the ballroom are not consistent with what we have before us today,\u201d NCPC chairman Will Scharf said.<\/p>\n

There was no presentation by Shalom Baranes Associates, and there were no public comments at the NCPC hearing.<\/p>\n

The NCPC last deliberated on the ballroom proposal<\/a> on March 5, when NCPC Chairman Will Scharf greenlit the project for one last review, resulting in today\u2019s final vote.<\/p>\n

The Judge Said Stop<\/p>\n

The final vote on April 2 took place just days after U.S. District Judge Richard Leon blocked Trump from moving forward on the ballroom<\/a> in court on March 31, when he granted a preliminary injunction request by the National Trust for Historic Preservation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Judge Leon affirmed that the ballroom proposal requires Congressional approval and, until that happens, it is illegal for it to proceed.<\/p>\n

Even with NCPC approval, the ballroom project cannot proceed due to Judge Leon\u2019s ruling on March 31. Per\u00a0the Associated Press, Leon delayed enforcement of his order for two weeks because \u201chalting an ongoing construction project may raise logistical issues<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump has said the ruling doesn\u2019t apply because private donors are funding the ballroom. But he also said that the work on \u201cunderground bunkers and other security measures around the White House grounds<\/a>\u201d will go forward. These items are funded by taxpayer dollars.<\/p>\n

The project\u2019s momentum hasn\u2019t stopped ongoing criticism.<\/p>\n

The New York Times\u00a0recently covered its design, writing that it hasn\u2019t received the proper scrutiny<\/a>. The annotated story pointed out a multitude of design problems related to views out from the portico and other elements.<\/p>\n

Edward Keegan, writing in the Chicago Tribune, wrote about the project under a headline declaring that Trump is embracing \u201cbastardized classical architecture for America\u2019s 250th<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other Matters<\/p>\n

Separately, the NCPC also deliberated today on the Washington Commanders stadium project designed by HKS<\/a>. It recommended adding a second Metro station to accommodate visitors.<\/p>\n

The NCPC additionally discussed the recently proposed White House Visitor Screening Facility by AECOM<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Also on the docket were concept plans for Pennsylvania Avenue by DAVID RUBIN Land Collective<\/a> and George Washington Memorial Parkway, a National Park Service initiative.<\/p>\n

A lawsuit hearing in regard to the Trump administration\u2019s plans for the Kennedy Center<\/a> is set to take place on April 29, the Cultural Landscape Foundation told AN.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) presided today over a packed agenda, but the main draw was a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":562263,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[228,226,227,229,88],"class_list":["post-562262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=562262"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562262\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/562263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=562262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=562262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=562262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}