Drained Reflecting Pool shows liner more grey than blue

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The bottom surface of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has faded to look more gray than blue after a renovation project concluded last month.

The new liner is grayer than when the recipient of a federal contract repainted the bottom of the pool in a bright shade of blue to match the American flag, according to a picture taken by a photographer from The Associated Press from the top of the Washington Monument.

The Interior Department awarded Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings with a federal no-bid contract exceeding $14.6 million to repaint and waterproof the concrete floor of the pool.

While the firm completed the project last month ahead of President Trump’s July 4 deadline, an algae bloom turned the pool green, and pieces of the blue coating began to peel off the bottom.

The Interior Department then awarded Ohio-based Green Water Solutions with a more than $1.7 million no-bid contract to address the algae in the pool. The company installed a nanobubble ozone technology system to kill the organisms.

The New York Times reported last month that contracting records show the owner of Green Water Solutions is John J. Cafaro, a donor to Trump who lives near the president’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

Trump has blamed vandalism for the peeling of the pool’s new coating, with federal authorities arresting multiple people for allegedly damaging the pool. That includes former U.S. Olympian David Hearn, whom a grand jury indicted on July 2 after federal prosecutors said he “forcefully and violently” ripped up the bottom liner of the pool with both hands.

Prosecutors accused Hearn, a three-time Olympic canoeist, of causing more than $1,000 worth of damage to 2 square feet of sealant.

But Hearn pleaded not guilty to the charges last week and has denied the allegations. He told The Washington Post last month he reached into the pool and grabbed the end of a piece of paint that was already peeling.

“I didn’t vandalize anything,” he said. “I didn’t destroy or break or peel anything. By the time I realized what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs.”

Tags

American Flag Blue

David Hearn

Donald Trump

Lincoln Memorial

peeling paint

Reflecting Pool

reflecting pool liner

Trump administration

vandalism

Washington D.C.

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