Park Service Concedes Harm but Still Backs Trump's Arch

A new National Park Service report backs President Trump's proposed arch, despite what it says would be adverse effects to the sightline between a host of iconic landmarks in Washington, including the Washington Monument and Lincoln and Jefferson memorials. The report released Friday says the 250-foot-tall memorial arch is likely to disrupt the historical significance of dozens of sites near its planned location adjacent to Memorial Bridge, the AP reports.

Many of Washington's monuments, buildings and sites have been carefully planned over decades to reflect significant moments in the nation's history and to evoke symbolism through sightlines that connect them to other sites. The arch will disturb the sightline between more iconic Washington landmarks than anticipated, the report said. But the Park Service report says "the same characteristics that make Memorial Circle sensitive from a preservation perspective are also the characteristics that make it the historically appropriate location for the undertaking."

The project's effects cannot be "fully avoided without either relocating the Arch away from the historically identified site or eliminating the principal commemorative feature, both of which would fail to meet the undertaking's purpose and need," the report said. "For this reason, alternative locations outside Memorial Circle are not reasonable avoidance alternatives." The 133-page report could play an important role in bolstering the Trump administration's case in its fight against a legal challenge filed by three veterans and an architectural historian. An earlier Park Service report listed views from 37 sites that would be impeded by the arch.