Interior Department employees have raised concerns about the quality and pace of repair work being done by a contractor on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, according to government documents seen by The New York Times.
Staff members said bubbles and small holes had appeared in one of the layers meant to waterproof the iconic pool. Documents indicate that uneven application of tinted waterproofing left the pool mottled in various shades of blue.
The documents say both issues were being addressed, but they raise the possibility that the work may not be completed by the government’s May 22 deadline. This would be an ironic turn of events, given that federal bidding laws were deferred because the government argued that there was an urgent need – to prepare for the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations.
The Reflecting Pool has suffered from problems with leaks and algae blooms for decades.
Last month, the Department of the Interior hired out Atlantic Industrial Coatings, a Virginia-based firm, is scheduled to repair, refinish and paint the pool. President Trump publicly stated that he recommended the company because of the good work it did on a swimming pool at one of his golf clubs.
However, Mr Trump hit back early on Tuesday, distancing himself from the company. “I didn’t award the contract, ‘Interiors’ awarded it to a contractor I didn’t know and had never used before.” mr trump wrote in a post On his Truth Social platform.
Asked to explain Mr Trump’s reversal, a White House official said the president had no personal relationship with this contractor, but as a private citizen and builder, he was familiar with the company’s previous work. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the president’s relationship with the company.
The Times is unable to independently confirm whether the company previously worked for any of Mr. Trump’s clubs.
Atlantic Industrial Coatings did not respond to requests for comment this week. Last week, one of the company’s owners, Curtis E. Wood, who is a supporter of AD, said he was not at liberty to discuss the contract.
Interior Department spokeswoman Katie Martin defended the contractor’s work on the reflecting pool project in a statement. He said some parts of the pool may look different temporarily, but only because they were in different stages of repair.
“The final product will be identical as outlined in the plan,” Ms. Martin said. “As with any project, there will be modifications to the process to ensure the most efficient equipment is used to reach the end goal.”
According to a public database of federal awards, Atlantic Industrial Coatings had never previously held a federal contract. The firm was awarded the no-bid contract Waterproof and paint the pool Last month. The government closed down all other competition for the work using that power, which can only be used in urgent situations when delay would cause “serious injury” to the government.
The Trump administration has not said what the injury might have been, but has said Mr. Trump wanted to move quickly so the work could be completed before the nation’s 250th celebration this summer. The repair work is to be completed by May 22.
Documents seen by the Times — which have not been previously reported — cast doubt on that timeline.
Although the renovation contract was awarded on April 3, only about 35 percent of the pool’s surface had been fully coated by Sunday, according to a government document. Another major task the seller must complete – replacing leak-prone joints between the pool’s slabs – was listed as 0 percent complete, with 12 days left before the deadline.
Already, the contract with Atlantic Industrial Coatings is costing far more than Mr. Trump promised. The President had said last week that this work would be done for 18 lakh dollars. In a social-media post early Tuesday he raised that estimate to $5 million or $6 million.
But public records updated as of Friday show the contract It will cost at least $13.1 million.
The Reflecting Pool, which was originally built in 1922 to reflect the beauty of the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument on the National Mall, has raised concerns for several administrations, the Times reported Friday.
The Obama administration spent more than $35 million over several years trying to solve the problems of algae build-up and leakage, but they maintained. According to Interior Department estimates, the pool leaks 16 million gallons of water per year.
During the Biden administration, the National Park Service, which is part of the Interior Department, took bids for a more extensive reconstruction to fix the problems. But the director of the Park Service at the time, Charles F. Sams III said he shelved the plan when the estimate topped $100 million.
“Now, here comes ‘Trump’ whom many patriots ask if I can fix it,” Mr Trump wrote in his post. “The answer is a resounding, yes, and for a ‘small’ fraction of the cost!”
In recent weeks, Mr Trump has given a series of estimates of how much the work would have cost if he had not intervened to find a cheaper way. In early April, he told a private gathering of donors that the work could cost $190 million or $200 million, according to audio of that meeting obtained by The Times.
A few weeks later, he told reporters in the Oval Office It will cost $301 million. Then, earlier this month, he said at a press event at the pool that the cost would be $355 million.
In his post on Tuesday, Mr Trump gave an estimate that was even higher.
“Instead of it taking 4 years to build at a cost of $400 million with granite pavers and aggregate, we can build a far superior reflecting pool for 5 or 6 million dollars, and complete the project in 2 weeks instead of 4 years,” Mr. Trump said he told the Interior Department.
Mr. Trump did not address the concerns outlined in the department documents about Atlantic Industrial Coatings’ work, and it is unclear whether he was made aware of them.
The contractor is spraying layers of waterproofing material. But Interior Department staff members said they noticed bubbles and small holes in one layer, indicating the material was not sticking as it should.
He said those defects should be corrected before adding new layers. The documents state that the contractor was considering switching from one manufacturer’s waterproofing product to another, but the job was so large, it was unclear whether sufficient stock would be available. This pool extends for more than 2,000 feet.
Interior Department officials also raised concerns about incompatible paint colors.
The contractor is believed to be painting the pool floor “American flag blue”, which Mr Trump said he had chosen.
The original plan was to use a robot to ensure the paint would be applied consistently, but documents indicate the contractor is now delegating the work to individual workers instead. That, the documents say, left different shades in different parts of the pool — and the question is what the uneven paint job could mean for the final look of the pool.
The Trump administration has not sought permission to repaint the Reflecting Pool from the Commission of Fine Arts, an independent federal agency that reviews plans for federal buildings, monuments and memorials.
On Monday, a nonprofit called the Cultural Landscape Foundation filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington seeking to stop the reflecting pool project. The nonprofit accused the Trump administration of ignoring laws designed to protect historic sites.
Ms. Martin, the Interior Department spokeswoman, said the department rejected those claims.
“The lawsuit lacks merit and is filled with false statements,” he said in a statement.
Kenneth P. Vogel And luke broadwater Contributed to the reporting.
