Despite public backlash, Trump’s ballroom plan wins praise from design experts and public officials

Architects are lauding President Trump’s plans for a big, beautiful ballroom, even as the president’s opponents and the public heap criticism on the project.

The massive addition, which will add 89,000 square feet of space to the White House, including office space and the ballroom, won high praise and unanimous approval Thursday from the Commission of Fine Arts, one of two panels that oversee renovations of historic buildings in Washington.

Mr. Trump ordered construction of the ballroom to end the need for temporary outdoor tents that have been used for decades to host large gala events at the White House.

Ahead of the vote, Commission Secretary Thomas Luebke told the panel that he had been swamped with thousands of messages from the public weighing in on the addition.

The project required tearing down the aging East Wing, which sparked public backlash and a lawsuit.

“The vast, vast majority is negative, in general,” Mr. Luebke said of the more than 2,000 messages sent to the commission about the project.

The overwhelming public opposition is in stark contrast with accolades from design experts, among them Commission Chairman Rodney Mims Cook Jr.

“Our sitting president has actually designed a very beautiful structure,” Mr. Cook said before the voting. “The United States just should not be entertaining the world in tents.”

Mr. Cook and the other members of the commission were appointed by Mr. Trump, leading critics to accuse the president of stacking the panel to ensure they vote in favor of the addition.

Such appointments aren’t unusual.

President Biden purged four members of the Fine Arts Commission when he took office and designated a total of six commissioners during his term.

Mr. Cook’s lengthy architectural design resume includes museums, monuments and libraries. He has lectured on architecture at universities and institutions around the world.

The White House ballroom, Mr. Cook said, “is a facility that is desperately needed for over 150 years, and it’s beautiful.”

One of the city’s top architectural firms, Shalom Baranes Associates, took over the ballroom project in November from another top firm, McCrery Architects.

Mr. Trump appointed McCrery’s leading architect, James McCrery, to the Fine Arts Commission in January. Mr. McCrery abstained from the vote Thursday because of his prior involvement in the project.

The new ballroom closely resembles Mr. McCrery’s original proposal, which was praised by classical architect Robert Adams as “a good design.”

Shalom Baranes outlined plans for the ballroom, which include a lower level for the first lady’s offices, a movie theater and an upper-level ballroom seating 1,000 people. The ballroom will have ceilings soaring to 40 feet and massive windows.

Mr. Baranes said the new, two-floor East Wing will be connected to the White House by a two-story colonnade. The two East Wing floors and colonnade combined will measure 89,000 square feet. The ballroom will take up 22,000 square feet of the project.

Mr. Baranes’ reputation for restoring historic buildings in Washington has helped win over D.C. officials who are skeptical of the ballroom addition.

Mr. Baranes led the renovations of the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill and the John A. Wilson Building on Pennsylvania Avenue, where the D.C. Council meets.

D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, who is a member of the National Capital Planning Commission, praised Mr. Baranes during his presentation of the ballroom addition at a commission hearing last month, though he asked whether Mr. Trump’s ballroom could be reduced in size.

Mr. Mendelson said Mr. Baranes “has really good taste with regard to dealing with historic structures. … Maybe it can be and needs to be shrunk a little bit more.”

Mr. Baranes, in response to criticism from the Fine Arts Commission, eliminated a triangular structure on the planned portico to make it less prominent.

The National Capital Planning Commission is expected to vote on the project in March.

Mr. Trump celebrated the Commission of Fine Arts’ approval of the ballroom.

The president said the $400 million project, which is funded by private donors, will be ready before he leaves office.

“Great accolades were paid to the building’s beauty and scale,” Mr. Trump said. “Thank you to the members of the Commission!”