Inspection exposes costly botched Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool makeover
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A contractor-commissioned failure analysis says the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool’s blue coating suffered at least 85 defects after a rushed, politically driven project that ballooned in cost and then triggered fresh federal spending.
A contractor-commissioned report has documented extensive damage to the blue coating applied to the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The 75-page failure analysis found at least 85 problem areas, including buckling along eight of ten expansion joints, blistering in nearly 40 locations, and paint peeling in about two dozen spots.
The report says the defects stem from a rushed effort to hit a deadline for the nation’s 250th anniversary on July 4, not from vandalism, despite earlier claims from administration officials that framed the damage otherwise. The coating, described as “American flag blue,” was applied after a $20 million renovation effort that began with an estimated cost of $1.5 million.
Initial funding surged to nearly $7 million after a no-bid contract was awarded to Atlantic Industrial Coatings LLC, a Virginia firm with limited prior federal contracts. Subsequent payments included $6.2 million in May, $1 million on June 3, and $461,000 on June 15, according to federal spending records.
Following the discovery of the coating failures, the pool was drained, repaired, and refilled. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced that no new contracts would be sought after project costs exceeded $17 million. Nevertheless, the National Park Service later awarded contracts totaling $4.5 million to firms for water-purification and sewage-treatment equipment.
Legal proceedings related to the incident involved former Olympian David Hearn, who was initially indicted but later had the case dismissed. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office acknowledged that the sealant began to peel shortly after installation and that the damage resulted from installation errors rather than vandalism.
Attorneys representing Hearn have called for an independent investigation into the handling of the case, alleging misconduct by federal officials.