October 18, 2011

It is a huge hole in one of the world's most famous gardens - but nobody knows what it is for.

Workmen have torn up an enormous section of the lawn in front of the White House for a mysterious, top secret project.

The hole by the West Wing is roughly 100ft by 100ft in size and has for the first time in living memory left the ground and pipes beneath the Oval office exposed to the elements.

Official explanations have ranged from an update of the air conditioning system to something 'security' related.

But that has not stopped speculation that the President is installing something else entirely - from a swimming pool to a spa. 

Others have guessed it could be an expansion of the presidential bunker, which was originally built in the time of Franklin D Roosevelt.

What is known is that every day for the past 17 months workmen have come and gone with nobody revealing what the project it.

The funds were allocated after 9/11 and apparently it will eventually link up with the Presidential Operations Centrer

Additions: There is speculation that the President, pictured strolling in White House grounds yesterday, could be installing a giant swimming pool or a sauna

Bird's eye view: The building work next to the West Wing can seen on the left of this aerial image of the White House

That room was featured in former vice President Dick Cheney's memoir as the place he took shelter after the September 11 attacks whilst former President George W Bush was on Air Force One. 

A White House official quote by by the New York Times could only say that the general idea was an expansion of the emergency base of operations.

'It is security-related construction. Even we don't know exactly what,' he said.

Built between 1792 and 1800, the White House has seen a string of amendments and additions to its main building and the grounds over the years.

During World War II a bomb shelter was constructed under the East Wing, although this was later converted into an operations room.

Under construction: Work at the start of the project at the front yard at 1600 Pennsylvania

'Big dig': The large green barrier that has gone up around the iconic Washington building can be seen in the background of this photo from earlier in the construction

In 1969 President Richard Nixon added an underground bowling alley whilst the sub basement was later put in, along with an incinerator, laundry and changing rooms for White House performers.

First Lady Michelle Obama has also made a feature out of the White House garden and has often spoken of how she likes to grow fruit and vegetables there.

White House improvements are overseen by the General Services Administration which claimed the construction was to update the air conditioning and electrical systems.

Spokeswoman Sara Merriam told the New York Times that it would later continue on the other side of the White House's grounds

Our house: President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama walk out of the White House with daughters Sasha, left, and Malia, right

Fun house: In 1969 president Richard Nixon added an underground bowling alley at the White House

She said: 'As part of this project G.S.A. has been excavating and installing replacement utilities in front of the West Wing and once this phase is complete will sequentially upgrade utilities moving to the North Lawn over to the East Wing.

'The type, size and complexities of work associated with the replacement of the utility infrastructure systems necessitates that extensive excavation and support structures are erected to effectively and safely conduct this work'. 

What lies beneath: The secret passageway, Armageddon-proof bunker (and basement bowling alley) under the President's feet

The White House already has a number of tunnels — the exact number is, of course, classified.

The most well known is the underground corridor that leads to the President's Emergency Operations Center (PEOC), a supposedly nuclear-proof bunker located six stories under the East Wing.

It was to this bunker and its adjacent Executive Briefing Room that Dick Cheney and Condoleezza Rice, among others, directed Government operations on September 11, 2001.

Underground command: President George Bush and his senior staff in the President's Emergency Operations Center, built during World War Two for President Roosevelt

While Hollywood and many conspiracy theorists suggest a rabbit warren of subterranean passageways —  including mythical tunnels to Capitol Hill and even Camp David — there is at least one hidden passageway that has been revealed in the famous residence.

A 50-yard tunnel leads from a concealed doorway in the Oval Office to the basement of the First Family's residence in the East Wing.

The clandestine passage was built during Ronald Reagan's presidency as a way to guard the President in a terrorist attack.

Oval Office: This 2009 picture, where Mr Obama can be seen re-arranging furniture with Vermont Governor Jim Douglas, shows a door leading to a rest room and, if you know where to look, a secret corridor to the East Wing

Floor plan: The door that leads off to the left of the West Wing's Oval Office leads to the hidden passageway

Bowling mad: President Richard Nixon had a single-lane bowling alley installed in the White House in the Seventies

Pressing a panel on a wall adjacent to the President's rest room next to the Oval Office causes a secret door to slide open, leading to a staircase down to the passageway.

There is also talk of a tunnel linking the White House to Blair House across Pennsylvania Avenue.

Many presidents have made alterations to the building, built between 1792 and 1800.

While most of the alterations have been cosmetic alterations, the bunker that is now the PEOC was constructed during the Second World War for President Roosevelt.

The White House is also one of the first Washington public buildings to be adapted for wheelchair access, also for Roosevelt.

President Harry Truman completely refurbished the property in 1948, after it was declared to be in imminent danger of collapse. Truman moved into Blair House for the course of the rebuilding.

Computers and the first laser printer were installed during the Carter administration. Solar panels were also installed on the roof — later removed during the Reagan administration.

The house has a tennis court, a movie theatre, a jogging track, a swimming pool (located underneath the current press conference room), and a putting green.

By far the coolest addition, however, is a single-lane bowling alley in the basement — installed by bowling-mad president Richard Nixon.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2050508/Is-Obama-building-s...