General Discussion

Many repairs and improvements have been done ever since the thing was first completed in 1923. It was completely rebuilt between 2009 and 2012, and following a serious algae bloom shortly after it reopened, an ozone disinfectant system was installed. Additional work was done in 2016. Of course, all of this work occurred during the Obama administration, which no doubt motivated Trump to claim Obama had neglected it so of course he had to "improve" it. In fact, it didn't need to be repainted. It did need more work on the water supply and filtration system, which Trump did not address. No matter what anyone does with it, it will always be afflicted by periodic outbreaks of algae because the water is warm and still and regularly fertilized by duck and goose poo. Trump's repainting project, like so much of what Trump does, was superficial, done only for appearances. He wanted it to be blue, just like a swimming pool, instead of reflecting the actual sky. But also, typical Trump, he made the algae situation even worse with the dark blue paint, which made the water warmer and more algae-friendly.