Reports started surfacing yesterday in DC that after a $13.1 million paint job that coated the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in “American Flag Blue” some of the paint was coming off in strips. This was on top of the other issue plaguing the pool—that within days of its renovation, a profusion of algae had turned the water green.
Why could the paint be peeling? Some speculated it was due to all the hydrogen peroxide being dumped into the pool to combat the algae. Others wondered if the surface hadn’t been adequately prepared before it was coated or there were other issues with the application. The owner of the company that won the no-bid contract to paint the pool, Atlantic Industrial Coatings, told CNN he could not tell what the problem was, but any issues would be addressed in “maintenance.”
For now, this is what our photographer, Evy Mages, saw on the morning of Friday, June 19, 2026.
Sherri Dalphonse joined Washingtonian in 1986 as an editorial intern, and worked her way to the top of the masthead when she was named editor-in-chief in 2022. She oversees the magazine’s editorial staff, and guides the magazine’s stories and direction. She lives in DC.
