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Experts 'gobsmacked' as Trump arch review shut down to avoid 'significant concerns'

rawstory.com · 8h · first reportShare

A preservation group is "gobsmacked" that a federal council cut short the review of President Donald Trump's proposed arch while conceding the public's "significant concerns." The Cultural Landscape Foundation, a consulting party to the review, used the phrase in written comments obtained by MeidasTouch correspondent Scott MacFarlane , who shared them on X Monday, a day before a scheduled meeting with consulting parties. The comments respond to a Thursday letter from Travis Voyles, vice chairman of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, that ended the arch's federal historic preservation review, known as Section 106. "Mr. Voyles has written a singularly audacious letter. And, after TCLF was invited to only one consulting party meeting for what would be the second largest monument in Washington, D.C., to say that we're gobsmacked is an understatement," the foundation wrote. "In recognition of the public's significant concerns regarding the adverse effects the undertaking would p