The bowling industry has offered a proposal to renovate the bowling lane in the basement of the White House, the Wall Street Journal reports. Apparently, they hope to ensure the new president won't make good on his jocular claim to replace the lane with an indoor basketball court, which met with serious offers from the NBA. This artist's conception is a little garish, for my taste.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Bowling alley renovation?
The bowling industry has offered a proposal to renovate the bowling lane in the basement of the White House, the Wall Street Journal reports. Apparently, they hope to ensure the new president won't make good on his jocular claim to replace the lane with an indoor basketball court, which met with serious offers from the NBA. This artist's conception is a little garish, for my taste.
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I'm thinking that low ceiling down there would make jump shots pretty dangerous if Obama really did convert the bowling alley to a basketball court... :-)
ReplyDeleteYeah, the current space is much too narrow as well as too shallow. It might be possible to tear up the yard, dig it out, and move things around (I think the rooms to either side house generators), but it might be more practical to dig up the *south* lawn and create a whole other space... Or even just build a building around the current outdoor court.
ReplyDeleteI know the scan I have of the upgrades to the underground area under the north lawn is supposed to include a much larger family recreation area. So while I'm not sure it's going to have a high enough ceiling, if the dig deep enough it may just happen after all.
ReplyDeletepersonally, I don't the think the President should be able to remove one part of the White House to accomodate something else, ala Nixon converting the swimming pool into a press room!!! Maybe Jackie should have had Pres. Kennedy include that in the executive order that forbids selling off WH items!!!
ReplyDeleteHow would Obama pay for the renovation? Would he use the 100,000 plus historical associations funding?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think they need to remodel the West Wing basement. That is far too shallow for comfort.
Any bowling alley or basketball court renovation would be paid for by private donations from the sporting associations. The West Wing is a different matter. I think it needs a major renovation/expansion in general.
ReplyDeleteMimlog-- you wouldn't want the White House stuck with a disused Hooverball court, would you? It has to change with the times. I think a lot of presidents have regretted the loss of the indoor swimming pool, tho.
I forgot about the extraordinary fundraising ability of Obama. In regards to the pool, have we seen any photos since the renovation?
ReplyDeleteI agree on the West Wing. The whole basement needs to be expanded and renovated. The upstairs should probably be redone also.
And maybe this is a terrible idea, but is there really any need for the dining room and study off of the Oval? Those two rooms could be combined into a new Chief of Staff office. Sort of a 'West Wing'-like setup that would expand office space.