Welcome to the Secret Service Mall
The Associated Press reports that a federal panel approved the final design for an underground screening facility beneath Sherman Park, intended to process people visiting the White House, attending large events, or working there.
The facility will cover roughly 33,000 square feet. That is a lot of underground real estate dedicated to the moment before someone gets to say they are here for the tour and discover that their belt has become a national-security incident.
Security Theater, Now With Square Footage
Screening visitors is a real security job, and the White House has unusually demanding logistics. But the scale turns an ordinary checkpoint into a full architectural subplot. There will be a place for screening tour participants, major-event guests, staff and contractors, all under a park that presumably did not ask to become the roof of a government queue.
It is the perfect Washington solution: when the line gets too long, do not make the process simpler. Put the line underground.
The Bottom Line
The project is not a secret bunker for the president. It is a visitor-screening facility. Still, “please proceed below the lawn for your security check” is a sentence that makes even a routine tour sound like the opening scene of a prestige thriller about a very overbuilt gift shop.