WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Park Service issued an assessment stating President Donald Trump's proposed 250-foot-tall (76-meter) memorial arch could disrupt the historical significance of dozens of sites near its planned location. The report details how the structure would alter character-defining visual and spatial relationships across a wide area of the nation's capital.

The assessment states the arch would impact the integrity of dozens of historical properties by changing these relationships. The report lists the National Mall, the U.S. Capitol, Washington Monument and grounds, and Lady Bird Johnson Park as directly affected by the proposed structure.

The National Park Service report identifies the immediate project area as located within the Memorial Avenue Corridor cultural landscape. This area is described as a nationally significant historic designed landscape extending between the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. and Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.

The report states the arch would break the alignment between the Lincoln Memorial, Memorial Bridge, and Arlington House. Arlington House was formerly the home of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. The report states the bridge alignment and associated ceremonial landscape were intended to physically and symbolically unite North and South through a coordinated monumental composition extending across the Potomac River.

Additional visual impacts noted in the assessment include changes to views from distant landmarks. The National Park Service assessment states the proposed arch would alter the view at the National Cathedral, located 4 miles away. The assessment also states the arch would obstruct sightlines from the Kennedy Gravesite.

Regulatory approvals have proceeded through multiple commissions in recent months. The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts granted initial approval for the arch design last month. All commissioners on the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts were appointed by President Donald Trump. The National Capital Area Planning Commission approved the site and preliminary plans for the arch at its July meeting.

David Maloney, Washington’s historic preservation officer, proposed an alternative location for the arch on the Anacostia River due south of the Capitol. This suggestion offers a different geographic context for the monument than the current plan near the Lincoln Memorial.

Legal challenges have emerged alongside the regulatory process. Three veterans and a historian filed a lawsuit challenging the construction of the arch. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit argue that construction of the arch requires Congressional approval. Nicolas Sansone is an attorney with Public Citizen Litigation Group representing the plaintiffs.

"Our claim is essentially that none of this has any authorization to be happening in the first place," Sansone said. He stated that authorization of the construction of a monument in the core of Washington, D.C. on National Park Service land requires an act of Congress. "I think its very significant that the National Park Service itself understands that this is the effect that it's going to have," he added.

The planning process is scheduled to continue in the coming weeks. The National Capital Area Planning Commission is expected to take up the matter again at its September meeting. A vote on final approval could come at the commission's next meeting in September, said Will Scharf, Trump’s White House staff secretary who serves as the commission’s chair.

Why It Matters

The proposed arch threatens the integrity of dozens of historical properties by altering visual relationships within the Memorial Avenue Corridor, a landscape designed to symbolically unite North and South. Breaking the alignment between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington House could disrupt this coordinated monumental composition extending across the Potomac River. Concurrent legal challenges argue that constructing such a monument on National Park Service land requires an act of Congress, potentially halting the project regardless of commission approvals.