Tourists hoping to see their own reflections in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Saturday were met with a somewhat different view: a tall chain-link fence encircling the pool’s perimeter.
The pool became an unlikely political talking point after the Trump administration’s attempts to give it a face-lift repeatedly failed and officials blamed unidentified vandals.
But the new fencing, which went up Thursday evening, was a long-planned installation in preparation for the annual Fourth of July fireworks, according to the Interior Department. One of the launchpads for the fireworks is at the pool, the department said, and the fence was put up for public safety, as it had been in years prior.
President Trump’s $16.4 million renovation plan for the pool included an effort to improve its filtration system and spread blue waterproof coating across its floor. But the foibles began almost immediately. Within days, the water turned bright green. The coating peeled off.
All of that — along with Mr. Trump’s insistence that unidentified vandals had somehow been responsible for the slapstick quality of the makeover — has drawn more than a few gawkers to what was already a popular tourist destination.
On Saturday, a smattering of tourists pressed up to the metal fencing to get a look.
Some raised phones above the six-foot-high barricades; others snapped pictures of the still water between the links of chain. A few sidled next to caution signs in preparation for the July 4 fireworks display that warned “DANGER EXPLOSIVES” and bore an image of an exploding bomb. Chris Brewer, who lived in Washington for more than a decade but was visiting this weekend from his home abroad, was biking to a brewery in Alexandria when he stopped to take a look.
“To be honest, I have been reading about this and I can’t get enough reflecting pool news lately,” Mr. Brewer said. “I just think it’s, you know, funny.”
Mr. Brewer, 44, had joked with his wife that he might grab some blue paint from the pool. He resumed his bike ride, underwhelmed by the experience.
“It looks better than I thought it would,” he said. “I was joking with my wife that I was going to get a piece of blue paint as a souvenir, but you know, as with most things, it seems pretty overblown.”
Campbell Robertson contributed reporting.
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