In Reply to: 90,000 sqft (a football field is 57,600 sqft ) = it's obscene posted by blindness on July 31, 2025 at 15:56:22
First off, there is the historic part of the White House, and then there are the West Wing and the East Wing. Each wing is separated from the historic White House by long, narrow "arms". The new ballroom will be part of a new building that will replace the current East Wing. The East Wing currently hosts the First Lady, the Social Secretary, and the White House Military Office (I'm sure there are others as well). If you tour the White House, you will begin by passing through the East Wing. There is supposed to also be a bunker beneath the East Wing, although that may actually be below the Treasury building next door.
The plan is to demolish the current East Wing and replace it with a new building that will contain the new ballroom AND, when completed, return all the current functions to the building as well.
I don't know where the 90,000 SF figure comes from. I've read that the new ballroom will have a capacity of 650 (for receptions I presume). The current capacity of the White House's East Room is 200 people. The Grand Sierra Resort and Casino in Reno, NV has a ballroom for 650 people that is 7,200 SF. That would be 11 SF per person.
I will speculate that the 90,000 SF does not refer to the ballroom alone, but to the entirety of the new East Wing which would have multiple floors.
That's still a helluva lot of SF. As noted elsewhere, that's nearly twice the size of the historic White House. If the ballroom size is similar to the Grand Sierra, it could take up half a floor with a footprint of 15,000 SF. But then that would mean a building six storeys high (some of which might be underground).
It leads me to wonder if it means the plan also includes shoving the press out of the West Wing and shifting them to the East Wing. I'm sure Trump would love that.