Facility Enhancement Proposal — Status: Under Review
SUBJECT: Independence Arch, Memorial Circle, Columbia Island
SUBMITTING AGENCY: U.S. Department of the Interior
ENHANCEMENT CATEGORY: Visitor Experience Supplementation
EXISTING FACILITY: Arlington National Cemetery
CFA REVIEW DATE: April 16, 2026 (concept phase)
White House spokesman Davis Ingle has stated that the proposed 250-foot arch at Memorial Circle "will enhance the visitor experience at Arlington National Cemetery for veterans, the families of the fallen, and all Americans alike, serving as a visual reminder of the noble sacrifices borne by so many American heroes throughout our 250 year history so we can enjoy our freedoms today."
Arlington National Cemetery is a 639-acre facility containing more than 400,000 interments. It conducts between 24 and 27 funeral services each weekday, except federal holidays. It has been operating as a visual reminder of noble sacrifice since 1864.
The Bureau of Memorial Enhancement, Visitor Experience Division, has received the enhancement proposal. The Bureau is filing this dispatch to document the proposal's components, its outstanding review items, and the one incomplete field in an otherwise complete planning document.
Section I — Existing Facility Performance
For reference purposes, the Bureau presents the current performance metrics of the facility to be enhanced.
Name: Arlington National Cemetery
Acreage: 639
Total interments: More than 400,000 service members, veterans, and family members
Visual reminder function: Operational
Current operating rate: 24–27 funeral services per weekday
Duration of operation: Since 1864
Pending enhancement: Since 1902
The Bureau notes that the 1902 McMillan Plan identified Memorial Circle as a potential arch site. The site has been awaiting this enhancement for 124 years. The Bureau considers that pending status resolved.
Section II — Proposed Enhancement Specifications
The enhancement is a 250-foot triumphal arch designed by Nicolas Leo Charbonneau, director of the Sacred Architecture Studio at Harrison Design, an Atlanta-based firm established in 1991.
Total height: 250 feet (one foot per year of U.S. independence)
Structural arch: approximately 166 feet
Lady Liberty assembly: approximately 84 feet (60-foot figure atop a 24-foot pedestal)
Eagles: Two, 24-foot each, flanking the central figure
Lions: Four golden, positioned at the base
Front inscription: "One Nation Under God"
Rear inscription: "Liberty and Justice for All"
Interior features: Internal staircases, visitor viewing deck
Stated purpose: To serve as a visual reminder of the noble sacrifices visible from the existing facility
The viewing deck, the Bureau notes, will offer visitors an elevated vantage point from which to observe Arlington National Cemetery, which is currently observable from ground level.
Section III — Outstanding Review Items
The enhancement proposal has several items pending resolution before construction may proceed.
Item 1: Commission of Fine Arts — Concept Review
The CFA has scheduled a concept-phase review for April 16, 2026. The Bureau notes that this review is advisory only. CFA approval is not a construction authorization.
Item 2: Congressional Authorization
On February 19, 2026, three Vietnam War veterans — Michael Lemmon, Shaun Byrnes, and Jon Gundersen — and architectural historian Calder Loth filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Represented by Public Citizen Litigation Group, the plaintiffs argue that the Commemorative Works Act requires express congressional authorization before any new commemorative structure may be built on federal land in Washington, D.C.
The Bureau notes, for administrative clarity, that the veterans filing suit against the enhancement are the veterans the enhancement was built to commemorate. This has been entered into the record.
Judge Tanya Chutkan has declined to issue a preliminary injunction but has required the Trump administration to provide 14 days' notice before beginning construction. The National Park Service must also publish a statement of authorization on its public planning website before construction may commence. These items constitute the pre-commencement administrative record. The case continues.
Item 3: Sight Line — Civil War Reunification Memorial
The proposed arch site at Memorial Circle sits on the axis between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington House (the Robert E. Lee Memorial). This sight line was established by deliberate planning decision in 1922 to symbolize the reunification of the nation following the Civil War. It has been maintained unobstructed for more than one hundred years.
The enhancement would partially obstruct this sight line. The Bureau notes, without further elaboration, that the sight line being obstructed is itself a memorial — specifically, a memorial to the war whose dead are buried at the facility being enhanced.
Item 4: Aviation — FAA Notice
The FAA requires a minimum 45-day notice before construction of any structure exceeding 200 feet above ground level. The proposed arch stands 250 feet. One Reagan National Airport approach path runs only a few hundred feet from the proposed arch site.
The FAA notice has not been filed. This item remains outstanding.
The Bureau notes that a monument to American sacrifice may require airspace accommodation before it can be built.
Item 5: Total Construction Cost
The Office of Management and Budget has approved a National Endowment for the Humanities spending plan reserving $15 million in federal funds for the arch — $2 million in special initiative funds and $13 million in matching funds.
The total construction cost has not been publicly disclosed.
The Bureau records this as the one missing field in an otherwise complete planning document.
Section IV — Enhancement Classification
The Bureau of Memorial Enhancement, Visitor Experience Division, classifies the proposed facility enhancement as follows:
Enhancement type: Supplementary visual reminder
Existing facility status: Fully operational visual reminder
Proposed function: Visual reminder of visual reminders currently in operation
CFA review stage: Concept (advisory only)
Congressional authorization: Pending litigation
Aviation clearance: Not filed
Sight line affected: Civil War reunification memorial, established 1922
Plaintiffs: The intended honorees
Total construction cost: Not disclosed
Federal funds reserved: $15,000,000
Site pending enhancement: Since 1902
The existing facility conducts 24 to 27 funerals per weekday. Its visitor experience function has been operational, without supplementary visual reminders, since 1864.
This dispatch documents receipt of the enhancement proposal. All outstanding review items are noted above.
Bureau of Memorial Enhancement, Visitor Experience Division — a sub-bureau of the Bureau of Public Agreement. CFA concept review: April 16, 2026. All other review items: pending. The existing facility remains operational in the interim.