Who would’ve thought that Trump and his hand-picked architect for the big ugly ballroom are having disagreements?
The primary point of contention with James McCrery II, Trump’s architect whose firm is known for constructing Catholic churches, is Trump’s continual push to expand the size of the project.
McCrery reportedly expressed to Trump the golden rule of architecture–an extension should not engulf the building it is designed to complement.
McCrery has now pulled back from his day-to-day involvement in the ballroom, but was still involved in a consultancy role and remained proud to be working for Trump, according to the New York Times.
What began as a plan for a 500-seat ballroom grew to 650, then 999 seats, and expanding to 1,350 seats, as Trump explains, big enough for a presidential inauguration. This would make the East Wing ballroom, projected at 90,000 square feet, much larger than the West Wing and Executive Mansion, at 55,000 square feet.
Also raising alarms, Trump has told people working on the ballroom that they did not need to follow permitting, zoning or code requirements because the structure is on White House grounds. Contractors involved have insisted on following industry standards.
Contractors also have been hand-picked, avoiding traditional government bidding processes. Of course, Trump himself is handling all details of the contracts, including how much contractors will be paid.
“I consider myself an important designer,” Trump has said.
Moreover, Trump has removed any obstacles to oversight of the project.
He has appointed a personal lawyer as chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission, which would review plans for the project. That lawyer, Will Scharf, has said there was no need to review Trump’s plans before he ordered the demolition of the East Wing.
Trump also fired the entire board of the Commission of Fine Arts, an independent federal agency established by Congress to advise the president on urban planning and historical preservation.