The Trump administration wants to build an underground center at the White House to provide security screening for visitors, the latest step in its plan to overhaul the Executive Mansion's grounds. Plans, including renderings of the 33,000-square-foot center, were included on the preliminary agenda released on Friday for a meeting next month of a federal commission that approves construction on federal land in Washington. The screening site would be built beneath Sherman Park, which is located southeast of the White House and directly south of the Treasury building, the AP reports.
The park had for a long time been the place where White House tourists and guests lined up for security checks before they cleared a series of trailer-type structures and walked to the East Wing entrance. But President Trump tore down the East Wing last fall to build a ballroom. Visitors currently line up on 15th Street at the corner of Lafayette Park. The new screening center would have seven lanes to speed up processing and reduce wait times. Construction could begin as early as August, according to the plans, and White House officials said they want the center operating by July 2028.
The monument of Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman in the center of the park would not be removed, according to plans for the project, which is a collaboration of the Executive Office of the President, the Secret Service, and the National Park Service, which manages the White House grounds. The National Capital Planning Commission, which oversees federal construction, planned to discuss the proposal at its April 2 meeting, according to the tentative agenda circulated Friday.
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