• mkwt@lemmy.world
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      7 hours ago

      The reflecting pool on the National Mall is shallow pool / fountain that’s there to look neat. It’s not intended for swimming. It’s an iconic landmark that connects the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Memorial. It’s been featured in all kinds of media, films, and TV for decades. Martin Luther King Jr’s “I have a dream” speech was there.

      Trump decided that the reflecting pool needed to be painted blue like some kinds of swimming pools. He caused the government to hire “a guy he knows” without putting the contract out for normal competitive bidding.

      Also, I think they’re painting directly on to granite, not concrete.

      There’s also this shot of the President driving his motorcade of several multi-ton vehicles directly on top of the granite pool.

        • midribbon_action@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          2 hours ago

          Yeah spot on. ‘Granite’ is a wide category of rock. The Vietnam memorial is also apparently granite, I just learned that today. It looks nothing like the reflecting pool, it’s much darker, almost black. The specific types of granite, maybe even the specific quarries, was chosen by each architect for it’s texture and color. Congress paid extra to keep the original granite floor while replacing everything else about it in 2009.

          It will never be restored, I don’t think it’s possible. Our generation will have been the last to be able to see the original intended art piece.

        • nikki@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          7 hours ago

          its not a swimming pool, paining it blue ruins the artistic intent of the structure. wouldnt expect any less from lord fuckwad

          • Also it will now absorb much more heat and heat the water more, likely making filtration much more complex due to changing water conditions.

            My pool always gets gross the day or two after a Heatwave starts, and until I ut more chlorine tabs and algaecide, I don’t even like to be near it.

            The POOL is fairly simple to get back in line.

            This massive reflecting pool? Not so much. Bare minimum the whole system will need redone.