Planning commission approves final design for underground White House visitor screening facility

The National Capital Planning Commission on Thursday 1 October approved final design and building plans for a new facility to screen visitors to the White House. 1 2 NBC News reported the vote was unanimous, and that the commission includes representatives appointed by Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat. 2 The 33,000-square-foot facility would be built beneath Sherman Park, southeast of the White House and directly south of the Treasury building, and would screen public tour participants, guests at large events, staff and contractors. 1

It will be entered off 15th Street, with visitors exiting by the East Wing; the space is designed for permanent Secret Service screening technology and for indoor queuing, with a 700-person occupancy, according to presenter Lee Webb, an urban planner with the 12-member commission. 2 It would replace temporary tents and double-wide trailers that the administration and the Secret Service say fall short of security needs. 1 2 The project is a collaboration of the Executive Office of the President, the U.S. Secret Service and the National Park Service. 1

The White House wants it open by July 2028, while NBC reported construction is expected to begin in the next month and finish at some point in 2028. 1 2 AP, carried by Hindustan Times, linked the project to security concerns for President Donald Trump, who has been the target of multiple assassination attempts, and noted that Secret Service officers fatally shot a man who opened fire near a White House checkpoint in May. 1 The design ties into the ballroom being built where the East Wing stood: an architect said some elements were tweaked to match it, and a presenter said the exit will have Corinthian columns to align with the ballroom's language. 1 2

Commission chairman Mark Paoletta, a Trump appointee, said he looked forward to the "beautiful building", and Paul Ingrassia, representing the General Services Administration, called it "an incredible part of this White House reimagining". 2 NBC said the project has enjoyed bipartisan support and drawn little pushback compared with Trump's other construction plans, such as the ballroom, whose plans the commission approved in April; AP noted ballroom construction continues while lawsuits play out, under a Supreme Court ruling a month ago by a divided court. 2 1 The panel had given initial approval to a revised design earlier this year, and member Evan Cash suggested a site tour, which members agreed to and which could include the ballroom site. 1