President Donald Trump replaced the original architect tapped to oversee his $300 million ballroom due to the massive size of the president’s project, according to a report.
James McCrery II and his boutique firm had been working on the 90,000-square-foot project for three months until October, the Washington Post reported. McCrery and Trump had clashed over the president’s interest in expanding the ballroom’s size, but a combination of McCrery’s small team and its struggles to make deadlines ultimately led to the firm’s departure, the paper reported.
It’s not immediately clear whether the architect left voluntarily, but the two men remain on good terms, a source told the Post.
Trump chose Shalom Baranes to take on the project instead. Baranes’ firm has been responsible for numerous major federal projects, including the main Treasury building and the General Services Administration headquarters.
“As we begin to transition into the next stage of development on the White House Ballroom, the Administration is excited to share that the highly talented Shalom Baranes has joined the team of experts to carry out President Trump’s vision on building what will be the greatest addition to the White House since the Oval Office — the White House Ballroom,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle told The Independent.
“Shalom is an accomplished architect whose work has shaped the architectural identity of our nation’s capital for decades and his experience will be a great asset to the completion of this project.”
McCrery remains on the project in a consulting role as the project moves into the next phase, the White House confirmed. The Independent has asked McCrery’s firm for more information.
Will Scharf, Trump’s staff secretary and chair of the National Capital Planning Commission, said at a meeting Thursday that the White House will submit plans for a new ballroom later this month.
“Once plans are submitted, that’s really when the role of this commission, and its professional staff, will begin,” Scharf said.
The White House said in October that it didn’t submit plans to the commission to tear down the East Wing earlier this year because the panel only oversees construction projects, not demolitions.
Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal introduced legislation Thursday that would put restrictions on the White House’s construction and demolition processes. The No Palaces Act would require the White House to require approval from the commission for demolitions and allow Congress to disapprove of proposed changes to the historic building.
“President Trump took a wrecking ball to the White House—demolishing the iconic East Wing to make way for his monstrous, multi-million-dollar ballroom,” Blumenthal said in a statement. “The guardrails in this measure will ensure future presidents cannot remake the People’s House into their personal palace.”
The ballroom will be entirely privately funded by wealthy donors and companies, the White House has emphasized. The list of donors includes Big Tech giants Amazon, Apple, and Google, crypto businesses Coinbase and Ripple, and the family of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, among others.
Last month, Democrats introduced another bill aiming to impose donation restrictions for the ballroom project. The legislation would ban donations from individuals with conflicts of interest, prevent the president and vice president from contributing and mandate real names to be used when making donations, among other requirements.
