Trump White House Plans $250K Bowling Alley Renovation

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

President Donald Trump’s White House is planning more than $250,000 in work on its private bowling alley, reviving a renovation target that previously sparked Republican outrage over taxpayer spending during the Obama administration.

The General Services Administration awarded a nearly $253,000 contract on July 28 for lighting work at the two-lane Harry S. Truman Bowling Alley, according to public contract awards reviewed and reported on by Politico on Monday. The contract was awarded under the Executive Office of the President to Charles Mann Enterprises.

The company received another $8,800 contract on Aug. 18 for escort services related to the project, which entails accompanying outside workers through secure areas. Neither the White House nor GSA immediately responded to Politico’s request for comment.

The project comes 12 years after GSA attempted a much more extensive renovation under former President Barack Obama, the outlet noted. In 2014, the agency proposed completely rebuilding the lanes, which it deemed “irreparable.”

Yet that plan lasted only about 90 minutes after Time reported on it before GSA canceled the project as Republicans criticized the prospect of using taxpayer money on the bowling alley.

The GOP-controlled House even passed an amendment blocking federal money from going toward the renovation, with former Rep. Pat Meehan (R-PA), who introduced the measure, arguing the plan was comparable to ice cream, and a “want,” not a “need.”

Also on Aug. 18, Politico reported, GSA awarded Charles Mann Enterprises a different $878,000 contract for an “EEOB basement studio project.” The bowling alley is located in the basement of the EEOB, though the contract listing provided no additional information on whether the two projects are connected.

While First Lady Melania Trump led restoration of the bowling alley’s original wooden lane in 2019, during Trump’s first term, the project was paid for by the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America. Prior to that, the space was last renovated under former President Bill Clinton.

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