{"id":2536103,"date":"2026-01-14T06:30:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T11:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/im-not-mad-the-fed-renovation-costs-billions-im-mad-its-ugly-2\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T06:34:38","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T11:34:38","slug":"im-not-mad-the-fed-renovation-costs-billions-im-mad-its-ugly-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/im-not-mad-the-fed-renovation-costs-billions-im-mad-its-ugly-2\/","title":{"rendered":"I&#8217;m Not Mad The Fed Renovation Costs Billions, I&#8217;m Mad It&#8217;s Ugly"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fim-not-mad-the-fed-renovation-costs-billions-im-mad-its-ugly-2%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2536103&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Federal Reserve&#8217;s renovation of the Eccles Building and the adjacent East Building has swelled from an initial $1.9 billion estimate to about $2.5 billion, prompting criticism not only for cost but for stylistic choices. The author recounts the Eccles building&#8217;s 1937 Beaux-Arts\/stripped-classical heritage and argues the proposed updates-garish modern windows, a five\u2011story glass box replacing a central wing, and a cold, Ikea\u2011like interior atrium-clash with that legacy and lack aesthetic taste. Critics,including a commissioner on the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and former President Trump, have condemned the design and rising price tag; a suggested marble alternative was rejected. The project also appears to run counter to a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >2025 executive order favoring classical federal architecture<\/a> and to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/polls-show-americans-overwhelmingly-support-voter-id-laws\/\" title=\"Polls Show Americans Overwhelmingly Support Voter ID Laws\">public preference<\/a> for traditional designs. The piece contends that stunning, classical federal buildings convey gravitas, continuity, and stewardship across generations, and that the Fed&#8217;s choice of modern, self\u2011serving design reflects poor priorities. The article is written by Elle Purnell, assignment editor at The Federalist.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Like most Americans, I&rsquo;m fairly numb to the breathtaking orders of magnitude by which the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hinson-introduces-bill-to-codify-trump-order-protecting-americas-bank-account-from-waste\/\" title=\"Hinson introduces bill to codify Trump order protecting &#039;America&#039;s bank account&#039; from waste\">federal government wastes<\/a> my money, so the $2.5 billion price tag on the Federal Reserve&rsquo;s renovation project is mostly unremarkable to me. I&rsquo;m not saying it should be &mdash; I&rsquo;m just saying you could do the renovations more than three times over with the money a handful of Somali scam artists apparently <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/12\/21\/us-news\/minn-s-social-services-scammers-may-have-stolen-9-billion\/#:~:text=US%20News-,Minn.'s%20Somali%20social%2Dservices%20scammers%20may%20have%20stolen,billion%20%E2%80%94%20nearly%20Somalia's%20entire%20economy&amp;text=A%20staggering%20%249%20billion%20may,according%20to%20the%20World%20Bank.&amp;text=%E2%80%9CThe%20magnitude%20cannot%20be%20overstated,staggering%2C%20industrial%2Dscale%20fraud.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">stole<\/a> in Minnesota.<\/p>\n<p>So my biggest beef with Jerome Powell isn&rsquo;t that he can&rsquo;t stick to a budget (who among us hasn&rsquo;t come in half a billion over our estimated expenses?). It&rsquo;s that he&rsquo;s spending more than the GDP of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a small country<\/a> on a renovation that&rsquo;s exceptionally<em> ugly.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The main Fed building &mdash; renamed the Eccles Building in 1982 &mdash; was completed in 1937 and built to house the Federal Reserve&rsquo;s Board of Governors. The <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Paul_Philippe_Cret\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">portfolio<\/a> of its French-educated architect, Paul Philippe Cret, includes war memorials in France, Belgium, and the United States, D.C.&rsquo;s Folger Shakespeare Library, art museums, and the UT-Austin Tower.<\/p>\n<p>Cret was trained in the Beaux-Arts style, which he blended with the muted classical (sometimes called <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Stripped_Classicism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Stripped Classical<\/a>) style that responded to the economic hardships of the 1930s by paring down lavish ornamentation. While understated, the Eccles Building has strong neoclassical silhouettes and was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/federalreserve\/albums\/72157666418422281\/with\/14404699452\">ornamented<\/a> with intricate sculptures, ironwork, and details such as a large mural map in the boardroom:<\/p>\n<figure>\n<figure><figcaption>\n<div>\n<p>         <span>Image Credit<\/span>Federal Reserve\/Public Domain       <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure><figcaption>\n<div>\n<p>         <span>Image Credit<\/span>Federal Reserve\/Public Domain       <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure><figcaption>\n<div>\n<p>         <span>Image Credit<\/span>Federal Reserve\/Public Domain       <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure><figcaption>\n<div>\n<p>         <span>Image Credit<\/span>Federal Reserve\/Public Domain       <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure><figcaption>\n<div>\n<p>         <span>Image Credit<\/span>Federal Reserve\/Public Domain       <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<p>In 2018, the Fed acquired a next-door <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Federal_Reserve_Board_East_Building\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">building<\/a> that was built in the 1930s and has been occupied by a variety of tenants, including the Department of the Interior. Like the Eccles Building, the structure (now called the East Building) was built in an understated neoclassical style.<\/p>\n<p>The proposed renovation of the two buildings, which had an initial cost estimate of $1.9 billion, has now <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2026-01-12\/why-the-federal-reserve-s-renovation-costs-2-5-billion\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">grown<\/a> to $2.5 billion, a figure some fear will continue to balloon. President Donald Trump has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/01\/13\/trump-powell-fed-dimon-pirro-doj.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">slammed<\/a> Fed Chair Jerome Powell for the project&rsquo;s growing price tag, saying it shows he &ldquo;either is incompetent or he&rsquo;s crooked.&rdquo; Maybe that&rsquo;s true. But Powell &mdash; or the lieutenants supervising the project design &mdash; is certainly guilty of one thing: poor taste.<\/p>\n<p>The National Capital Planning Commission&rsquo;s renovation review <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncpc.gov\/files\/projects\/2021\/8113_Marriner_S_Eccles_and_Federal_Reserve_Board-East_Building_Renovation_and_Expansion_Submission_Materials_Sep2021.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">proposes<\/a> the modernization project will be &ldquo;built on classical principals [sic] but with contemporary materials and technology.&rdquo; Elsewhere, discussing the changes to the East Building, it says the renovation is &ldquo;responding to the architecture of the historic building &hellip; but uses more contemporary materials.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>An artist&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncpc.gov\/files\/projects\/2021\/8113_Marriner_S_Eccles_and_Federal_Reserve_Board-East_Building_Renovation_and_Expansion_Submission_Materials_Sep2021.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rendering<\/a> of the result, included in the commission&rsquo;s final review, shows the Eccles building fitted with garish, modern windows suited more for a high-rise office than a marble federal building:<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>\n<div>\n<p>         <span>Image Credit<\/span>National Capital Planning Commission       <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Even worse are the proposed changes to the East Building, which will see its central wing totally demolished and in return will get a giant, five-story glass box:<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>\n<div>\n<p>         <span>Image Credit<\/span>National Capital Planning Commission       <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Inside, a planned atrium looks like something between a cruise ship and a Scandinavian prison. The addition of a skylight is a nice feature, hearkening back to one that once existed in the Eccles Building. But the blocky lines, cold tones, and Ikea-type furniture are completely at odds with the building&rsquo;s architectural legacy.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<figure><figcaption>\n<div>\n<p>         <span>Image Credit<\/span>National Capital Planning Commission       <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure><figcaption>\n<div>\n<p>         <span>Image Credit<\/span>National Capital Planning Commission       <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The architects aren&rsquo;t unaware of such critiques. During a meeting of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts in 2020, when the commission reviewed proposed plans, Commissioner Duncan Stroik <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cfa.gov\/records-research\/record-cfa-actions\/2020\/01\/cfa-meeting\/minutes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">expressed<\/a> concerns that the additions &ldquo;would look like an eyesore,&rdquo; according to the meeting minutes.<\/p>\n<p>Stroik, who is <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Duncan_G._Stroik#cite_note-WP_2025-10-28-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">known<\/a> for his work on various chapels, including the Christ Chapel at Hillsdale College, suggested the commission ask for an &ldquo;alternative design in white Georgia marble&rdquo; to match the existing buildings, rather than exposed metal and glass, but the amendment was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.archpaper.com\/2020\/06\/renovation-of-federal-reserve-board-eccles-building-civic-architecture-battle\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">voted down<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The planned renovation isn&rsquo;t just ugly; it also defies an executive order signed in August that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/2025\/08\/making-federal-architecture-beautiful-again\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">declared<\/a> &ldquo;classical and traditional architecture&rdquo; to be &ldquo;preferred&rdquo; for federal buildings. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/im-not-mad-the-fed-renovation-costs-billions-im-mad-its-ugly\/\" title=\"I&#039;m Not Mad The Fed ... Costs Billions, I&#039;m Mad It&#039;s Ugly\">order reflects popular sentiment<\/a>: Some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.civicart.org\/news-and-events\/2020\/10\/13\/ncasharris-survey-shows-americans-overwhelmingly-prefer-traditional-architecture-for-federal-buildings\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">72 percent<\/a> of Americans told pollsters they preferred traditional architecture for federal offices over modern designs. Similarly decisive majorities concurred across age, sex, race, and politics.<\/p>\n<p>There is value in having beautiful federal buildings, even at significant expense. Visual aesthetics matter; it&rsquo;s why the State Department is <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/12\/11\/returning-to-times-new-roman-the-state-department-learns-from-cracker-barrels-mistakes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">returning<\/a> to a standard Times New Roman font for official correspondence, replacing the minimalist Biden-era Calibri. Marble and bronze inspire as glass cubicles and dinky furniture cannot. <\/p>\n<p>More than just providing a sense of gravitas, beautiful aesthetics can physically represent the ideals of the agencies that inhabit them. Order and symmetry befit a courthouse and its obligation to justice, moral clarity, and natural law. Think of how walking into a beautifully appointed hotel adjusts your expectations, compared to your local DMV. Imagine if all your local government offices looked like this.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>\n<div>\n<p>         <span>Image Credit<\/span>Elle Purnell       <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Classical design evokes a continuity with the past &mdash; an aesthetic inheritance as a reminder of a civil one. Governments and the administrators they employ are not just stewards of American taxpayers&rsquo; power and wealth but also of that of previous and future generations.<\/p>\n<p>Respect for our cultural progenitors usually correlates with the concern we pay our cultural heirs. If life imitates art, the Fed is in poor hands &mdash; bureaucrats who design buildings for themselves rather than for posterity will likely take the same approach to the country itself.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Elle Purnell is the assignment editor at The Federalist. She has appeared on Fox Business and Newsmax, and her work has been featured by RealClearPolitics, the Tampa Bay Times, and the Independent Women&#8217;s Forum. She received her B.A. in government with a minor in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @_ellepurnell.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;m numb to waste; $2.5B could fund 3+ renovations<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1353,"featured_media":2536104,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-10.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[20234,70883,70881,70882],"class_list":["post-2536103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-architecture","tag-design-critique","tag-fed-renovation-2","tag-government-spending-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-10.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2536103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1353"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2536103"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2536103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2536107,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2536103\/revisions\/2536107"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2536104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2536103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2536103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2536103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}