Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Paint Plan Draws Lawsuit Over Historic Preservation
A plan to repaint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has triggered a federal lawsuit, with The Cultural Landscape Foundation arguing that the proposed “American flag blue” finish would violate preservation law and alter one of Washington’s most recognizable civic landscapes.
TCLF backed the complaint, filed April 12 in U.S. District Court in Washington by the nonprofit Washington Litigation Group. The suit says the basin’s color is a character-defining feature of the site and cannot be changed without review under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. The organization is seeking both a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to stop the work.
The dispute centers on a renovation project that the Department of the Interior awarded in early April as a no-bid contract to Atlantic Industrial Coatings, a Virginia firm. The details became more visible after an April 23 Oval Office event on healthcare, where Donald Trump said he had pushed the overhaul forward by asking contractors he knew for “a good price.” He also said he selected the blue himself, after being talked out of a Caribbean turquoise.
Charles Birnbaum, president and CEO of TCLF, said in a statement that “a blue-tinted basin is more appropriate to a resort or theme park,” adding that the Reflecting Pool’s design depends on a reflective surface that remains visually subordinate to the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument. The pool, which opened in 1924, has stayed largely consistent for more than a century, aside from periodic repairs. Under the Obama administration, the basin underwent a $35 million effort to address leakage.
TCLF’s filing leans on a 1999 National Park Service cultural landscape report, which described the basin as composed of “an asphalt coated membrane, slate, and concrete tile.” The report said the dark tile color helped create “the illusion of greater depth and a more profound reflection.” The group also cited a May 1 Truth Social post from Trump that showed an A.I.-generated image of the president, J.D. Vance, Marco Rubio, and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum lounging in the pool, with the Washington Monument behind them.
The National Park Service has also come under criticism for relying on a 2008 agreement that streamlines routine maintenance without consultation or review. TCLF argues that a vivid blue repaint is far outside that category and should have triggered the normal federal process.
Work began in mid-April, and government documents indicate it was supposed to be finished by May 22. The project is also drawing scrutiny for cost: Trump said it would run between $1.5 million and $2 million, far below the $300 million he said had been quoted to the Biden administration. Public records, however, show the contract will exceed $13 million.
The Interior Department did not respond to a request for comment. For preservation advocates, the case is about more than color. It is a test of how far a federal agency can go before a historic landscape stops being protected as a historic landscape.
