The Trump administration is proposing an underground visitor screening center beneath a park near the White House as part of broader plans to modernize security and visitor access to the complex.
The plans include visuals of a 33,000-square-foot facility to be built beneath Sherman Park, southeast of the White House and just south of the Treasury building. They were submitted ahead of an April 2 meeting with the National Capital Planning Commission, which oversees federal construction.
Should the plans be approved, the new facility would boast seven lanes to process guests, which is projected to cut wait times.
Construction could begin as early as August, and the White House hopes to have the facility operational by July 2028, just six months before the end of President Donald Trump’s term.
Prior to construction in the East Wing, the park has long been where tourists and guests bound for the White House have reported for security checks through trailer-type structures before heading to the East Wing entrance.
Currently, visitors are checked near Lafayette Park, which is across from the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue.
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