Kristi Noem calls for emergency demolition of historic buildings in DC alarming preservationists | EUROtoday

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is making an emergency request to demolish greater than a dozen historic buildings in Washington, D.C., citing a “risk to life and property” that she claims endangers federal brokers.

The proposal, first reported by The Washington Postwould destroy 17 buildings at St. Elizabeths West Campus, drawing outrage and opposition from preservationists who’re already battling Donald Trump’s administration over the destruction of the White House to make means for the president’s ballroom.

The federal authorities needs to redevelop the 176-acre campus to construct greater than 5 million sq. toes of workplace area for a quickly increasing Homeland Security, together with sufficient parking area for 14,000 workers, in keeping with the General Services Administration.

In a letter to the company seen by The Independentpreservationist teams raised “strong objections” to the proposed demolition of the properties, a few of that are greater than 100 years outdated, arguing that there is no such thing as a such proof of an “emergency” past Noem’s “unilateral declaration” of 1.

“A unilateral declaration like this is problematic because it bypasses the procedural safeguards designed to ensure stability, legitimacy and fairness,” in keeping with a letter from National Trust for Historic Preservation basic counsel Elizabeth Merritt and DC Preservation League director Rebecca Miller.

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DHS has “the highest security classification for a government facility,” and potential threats “imply a fundamental flaw in the facility’s security as a whole,” not the vacant buildings, they argued.

Four of the 17 buildings that DHS needs to raze have been permitted for demolition by the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts, in keeping with Miller.

“This is about safety,” DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin mentioned in a press release to The Independent.

“DHS security and safety assessments have determined that these dilapidated, vacant buildings on the DHS campus pose unacceptable safety, security, and emergency-response risks,” she added.

The campus was first established by Congress in 1855 at a website referred to as the “Government Hospital for the Insane,” in keeping with the GSA.

It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979. It was acknowledged as a National Historic Landmark in 1990.

The Department of Health and Human Services listed the campus as “excess property” in 2001.

In a current safety evaluation, DHS officers declare vacant buildings on the campus could possibly be “exploited by malicious insiders who possess legitimate access, familiarity with the campus, or detailed knowledge of security procedures.”

The report suggests these “insiders” could possibly be workers and federal contractors who may abuse their entry “to plan, stage, or execute harmful activities.”

That may embrace concentrating on officers and the “disruption of essential operations and compromise of sensitive information or infrastructure,” the report mentioned.

Several buildings “cannot be cleared by law enforcement or first responders, creating security blind spots adjacent to senior leadership and critical operations,” McLaughlin instructed The Independent. “Demolition is the only permanent corrective action that eliminates these.”

Preservationists argue that DHS has not supplied any proof to again up these claims that might require “emergency” demolitions.

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The proposed demolitions comply with Trump’s destruction of the East Wing of the White House to assemble a ballroom, a undertaking that has ballooned to $400 million, with allegedly no taxpayer burden.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued the Trump administration earlier this month to dam the undertaking till it a minimum of receives congressional approval, a complete design evaluation, environmental evaluation and public remark.

“No president is legally allowed to tear down portions of the White House without any review whatsoever — not President Trump, not President Biden, and not anyone else,” the federal lawsuit says. “And no president is legally allowed to construct a ballroom on public property without giving the public the opportunity to weigh in.”

Trump instructed reporters Monday that he needs future presidential inaugurations hosted there.

“I’m doing a magnificent, big, beautiful ballroom that the country has wanted, the White House has wanted for 150 years,” Trump mentioned from his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida. “It’s bigger than I told you … after realizing we’re going to do the inauguration in that building. It’s got all bulletproof glass … They call it drone-free roof. Drones won’t touch it.”