Construction on Trump’s $200 million White House ballroom to begin in September
President Donald Trump has been envisioning a new ballroom on the White House campus for a decade and a half.
His dream is about to become a reality.
Construction will begin in September on a $200 million, 90,000-square-foot ballroom, his press secretary announced Thursday, fulfilling a 15-year ambition by the president to construct an event space on the White House grounds that expands the building’s entertaining capacity — but also resembles the gilded spaces of his private clubs.
Renderings provided by the White House depict a vast space with gold and crystal chandeliers, gilded Corinthian columns, a coffered ceiling with gold inlays, gold floor lamps and a checkered marble floor. Three walls of arched windows look out over the White House’s south grounds — including a massive new flagpole that was another of Trump’s additions to the historic compound.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the new “state ballroom” would occupy space currently housing the East Wing of the executive mansion, where first ladies have traditionally maintained offices. Staff working from the location now will be “temporarily relocated.”
The renderings show the exterior of the ballroom jutting onto the South Lawn, with a colonnade running along one wall. A Palladian facade with columns and a pediment sits on the eastern wall.
The gold-and-white style closely mimics the Louis XIV-style main event room at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s estate in Palm Beach. Trump has not shied away from drawing inspiration from his clubs.
“No president knew how to build a ballroom,” Trump said this weekend, meeting the European Commission president in another of his crystal-draped ballrooms, this one at his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland. “I could take this one, drop it right down there, and it would be beautiful.”
The new ballroom — which will maintain the “theme and architectural heritage” of the neoclassical executive mansion, the White House said — will have a seated capacity of 650 people, more than three times the space in the East Room, currently the largest event space in the White House.
Read more on CNN
Disclaimer:
The Views,Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements expressed by Readers and Contributors on this website do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Wohonsem.com. Wohonsem.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us.
