CNCB News

• The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has recently become the center of controversy and spectacle.
• A multimillion-dollar renovation by the Trump administration aimed to turn the pool "American flag blue."
• Instead, the pool looks green with growing algae and is being cleaned by NPS workers.

The Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC, was designed to connect the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial with one long, serene visual line.

But today, more people are looking into the pool water than at the monuments it reflects and the history of America it's meant to frame.

A renovation by the Trump administration, reported to cost around $16 million, aimed to make the pool, which has long been plagued by algal blooms, look cleaner before America's 250th anniversary.

Instead, weeks after the conclusion of the project, which has come under scrutiny for its no-bid contracts, multimillion-dollar cost, and solutions to the algae growth, the pool has already turned green — again.

Now, the reflection of the 2,028-foot-long pool features visitors looking into the water, police officers and National Guard members monitoring the monument, National Park Service workers working long days to clean up the fast-growing algae, and protesters gathering with signs and chants.

Here's what I saw when I visited the Reflecting Pool.

I visited Washington, DC, ahead of America's 250th anniversary.

When I visited Washington, DC, on June 19, construction and repair work could be seen throughout much of the city, including at many of its most iconic landmarks, such as the White House, Lafayette Park, and the Reflecting Pool.

The Reflecting Pool was lined with National Park Service employees working on repairs.

The Reflecting Pool is usually one of the calmest places on the National Mall. During my visit, it looked like an active worksite.

Dozens of workers stood in and around the shallow water, with equipment, hoses, and cleaning systems spread across the pool floor. Some sections looked newly cleaned. Others were still covered in murky green patches.

A multimillion-dollar renovation had aimed to turn the pool floor "American Flag Blue."

The resurfacing of the pool with a dark-blue color was part of a fast-moving renovation ordered by Trump ahead of America's 250th-anniversary celebrations.

The administration initially announced it would cost $1.8 million, although the Associated Press reported Tuesday that the contracts to complete the work exceeded $16 million.

Instead, the pool has once again been overtaken by green algae.

Among other issues, the renovation was meant to help solve a problem that has long plagued the Reflecting Pool: algae blooms.

But days after the pool was refilled in early June, the algae returned, and green blooms reappeared in the water.

The structural issues causing the algae to grow so rapidly in the pool date back to its construction and the unstable mudflats on which it was built. The concrete slabs at the bottom of the pool have developed cracks and leaks over the past century, The New York Times reported.

The blue resurfacing from Trump's pool renovation coated the slabs with sealant but failed to address the structural issues, the Times reported.

Interior communications director Kate Martin has said the algae now visible is residual and came from reactivated supply lines after the repairs, calling it part of the pool's "normal startup process."

In some parts of the pool, the blue paint has started to crack and peel.

When I looked into the pool, I noticed what some people have already mentioned: The blue coating itself seemed to be cracking and peeling.

Some visitors have spotted large chips of the blue pool floor surfacing.

Peeled pieces of the blue liner, like the piece photographed by The Washington Post in the image above, have been seen breaking away and floating in the pool.

David Hearn, a 67-year-old former Olympic canoe racer from Bethesda, Maryland, told the Associated Press that he reached into the pool to examine the peeling coating on June 19, briefly touched a piece that was still attached, and let go after a park worker told him to.

"I reached down to see what it felt like," Hearn told AP. "It was very rubbery."

Soon after, he was arrested for vandalism, which he denied, telling ABC News he did not rip, damage, or take any part of the pool. He was later released from police custody and will appear in court on July 9.

While I was there, visitors were looking into the pool water more than at its surrounding monuments.

The Reflecting Pool is designed to pull the eye across the Mall. During my visit, it pulled people's eyes downward.

I talked to visitors who said they had come just to see what the water looked like.

"I've never seen so many people looking into the Reflecting Pool," one passerby said while on the phone.

I also saw a dad take a picture with his young daughter with the pool in the background. Their choice of pose? A big thumbs down.

Some even took water home with them.

One visitor from Michigan said he hoped to keep the algae alive at home, adding it to what he called a collection of "bad things the government has tried to hide from us," which he said includes various vintage artifacts, such as uranium glass and promotional mugs with dangerous levels of lead and cadmium.

Other visitors told Newsweek that National Guard members at the pool said they could be detained for touching the water.

National Park Service regulations state that people are prohibited from "bathing, swimming, or wading" in fountains or pools on the National Mall, with some limited exceptions that do not include the Reflecting Pool. The regulations do not specifically address briefly touching or collecting water from the Reflecting Pool.

Earlier this week, the administration announced the arrest of six people in connection with alleged vandalism of the pool, which the president said on Truth Social included a 250-foot gash in the pool floor made by "a very sharp knife or razors" in a Truth Social post. The administration has not provided evidence for the claims.

Cleanup efforts have gained as much attention as the initial renovation itself.

I watched as National Park Service workers took turns patiently cleaning the pool floor with a water-vacuuming device.

Strips of dark blue showed through the dense algae covering, and visitors gathered to witness a cleanup turned spectacle.

Workers are using systems to vacuum the algae off the pool floor.

The Interior Department has also deployed hydrogen peroxide and nanobubble ozone technology to address the algae.

Green algae-filled water is being pumped into nearby drains.

The vacuumed, algae-filled water was then disposed of into nearby drains, which drew just as much attention from visitors.

The Washington Post later reported that DC environmental officials planned to investigate the discharge of water into drains after visitors expressed concern.

Some protesters stood in support of the algae in opposition to the administration's renovation efforts.

The pool and its growing algae have become a protest background and, to some, an icon.

During my visit, a pair of protesters marched near the pool holding a "Team Algae" sign and chanting, "Grow, algae, grow."

Police officers and National Guard members are monitoring the area.

Along with workers, curious visitors, and protesters, dozens of US Park Police and National Guard members patrolled the areas surrounding the pool, adding to an already lively, tense image.

Meanwhile, federal employees are expecting long work days ahead of the nation's 250th birthday.

While the spectacle of the blue-green pool continues, it is the National Park Service workers who are getting the closest look at it.

One, who declined to share his name, said that until July 4, repairs were expected to be worked on for 16 hours a day, with crews changing between two shifts.

When I visited the scene, it was a hot, sunny, and humid day. I kept wondering whether being knee-deep in the murky water made the workers feel any cooler than I did.

"How fast does the algae take to grow back?" one visitor asked an NPS worker who was resting from vacuuming the pool floor.

"Seconds," he told her.

Read the original article on Business Insider