On July 31st of this year, President Trump announced the construction of a new ballroom would replace the existing East Wing structure of the White House. The construction, which is estimated to take until January 2029, began with the tear down of the current East Wing, a structure that had been in place since 1805, according to Darlene Superville of PBS news.
According to CBS news writers Arden Farhi and Jennifer Jacobs, before it had been demolished, the East Wing had been used as a base for first ladies, including housing offices, and as a public entrance for tourists and guests to enter the White House. Reports from Errin Haines and Amanda Becker of 19th news note that former First Lady Rosalynn Carter spent time there as she moved her office to the East Wing, and that former First-Lady Eleanor Roosevelt used the East Wing as her office where she held official functions, operations, and spoke out for the rights of women.
Judy Kurtz and Amie Parnes of The Hill report that Trump’s ballroom plans received criticism from former Secretary of State and First-Lady Hillary Clinton, who stated, “It’s not his house, it’s your house and he’s destroying it.”
According to PBS news writer Dariene Superville, one reason that Trump decided to build the ballroom was because he disliked the appearance of tents, which were required for large-scale events due to the smaller space of the East Wing. The new ballroom will hold a variety of events including state dinners and formal events.
Katherine Sibley, a professor at Saint Joseph’s University, told Errin Haines and Amanda Becker of the 19th News that she thinks that the construction of the ballroom suggests that first ladies have no value and that the project disrespects their history. “To me, this demolition suggests that the current white house does not think that the first lady does anything of value. I’m not talking about Melania Trump particularly, but the office itself- they’re not cognizant of history.”
Guests who once visited the East Wing have spoken out against the construction saying that it was once a place that made history and that this history seems to have been forgotten. Judy Kurtz and Amie Parnes of The HIll spoke to visitors who told them, “It feels devastating to lose all the history and tradition of those spaces” and “You think of the towering figures of American history who have graced those spaces over so many years, and to think that those are being swept away feels like a real loss.”
All of the news says that the east wing has been a place where many social events have taken place in history, but that history is now gone and what will come in its place has yet to be determined.
