Wall Street Journal Op-Ed: Washington Deserves a Classical Stadium

Suggestive AI-generated classical RFK Stadium. Credit: Leigh Wolf.

The Wall Street Journal today published an op-ed by National Civic Art Society president Justin Shubow in which he calls for the architecture of the new RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. to be classical. His piece begins:

The largest private development in the District of Columbia’s history is under way: a new Robert F. Kennedy Stadium that will be home to the Commanders football team. At an estimated cost of $3.8 billion, it will replace the rusting, abandoned hulk that sits at the east end of East Capitol Street, fronting the Anacostia River. Given the stadium’s prime location, President Trump said the replacement is “going to be an architect’s dream.”

During a National Capital Planning Commission meeting last month, White House staff secretary Will Scharf said that he hopes the structure “incorporates architectural features in keeping with the capital more generally—classical, neoclassical elements that will align it with the capital that it will essentially overlook.”

I hope so too. The project offers a once-in-a-century opportunity for Washington to achieve its potential as a classical city inspired by Republican Rome—the intent of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. . . .

You can continue reading the piece here at The Wall Street Journal.