Work to repair the Reflecting Pool near the Lincoln Memorial is nearly complete, President Donald Trump said.
The $14 million renovation project was originally scheduled for completion in June ahead of the nation's 250th anniversary celebrations. However, days after workers finished initial repairs, algae appeared in the pool, turning the water green and forcing crews to redo the work.
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"I think they're going to fill it up this week. The Reflecting Pool is totally complete, and we changed the old pipes," Trump said. "We wanted to get open for July Fourth, and now we went and got rid of all of the old pipes, which we were going to do later and during the winter we did it, and I think it's almost complete."
The Trump administration had blamed vandals for construction delays, but could not back up those arguments in court.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro wrote that the damage to the pool resulted from a "flawed installation" by the contractor and a rush to complete the project before events associated with the America 250 celebration.
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