12 amazing pictures from the White House renovation project
The Pulse Illawarra partners with The Associated Press
We’ve all been there … expectantly watched from a distant window as builders worked on your house renovations. It comes with just a tad more scrutiny when your project involves the White House.
The Pulse Illawarra now has access to amazing content the world over from The Associated Press. It’s all thanks to our involvement in the Google News Initiative’s Global News Gaps Project.
We know you come to The Pulse for content you won’t get anywhere else - and that’s not about change. The Illawarra remains our focus. But it means we can now share perspectives from elsewhere that perhaps you haven’t read about or seen before - like these images of one of the world’s best-known addresses: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC.
What began as ultra-exxy “renovations” of the White House East Wing has evolved into something else entirely different. Just days ago the White House said it was not feasible to save the East Wing and revealed details of President Donald Trump's planned ballroom to a planning commission.
Josh Fisher, director of the White House Office of Administration, listed off a variety of concerns for the National Capital Planning Commission - including a structurally unstable colonnade, water leakage and mould contamination - in explaining why it was more economical to tear down the East Wing to make room for the $400 million ballroom than to renovate it.
“Because of this and other factors,” Fisher said, “the cost analysis proved that demolition and reconstruction provided the lowest total cost ownership and most effective long-term strategy.”
President Trump has been talking about building a White House ballroom for years. Last July, the White House announced a 90,000-square-foot (8400-square-metre) space would be built on the east side of the complex to accommodate 650 seated guests at a then-estimated cost of $200 million. Trump has said it will be paid for with private donations, including from him.
He later upped the ballroom’s capacity to 999 people and, by October, had demolished the East Wing. In December, he updated the price tag to $400 million — double the original estimate.
The White House had announced few other details about the project but has said it would be completed before Trump’s term ends in January 2029.
with AP