White House Spends $253K on Truman Bowling Alley
White House Spends $253K on Truman Bowling Alley
The News
The Trump White House is renovating the two-lane Harry S. Truman Bowling Alley in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, reviving a project that blew up on the Obama administration in 2014.
The General Services Administration, acting under the Executive Office of the President, awarded a nearly $253,000 contract on July 28 for lighting work on the alley, according to public contract awards reviewed by Politico's West Wing Playbook.
The alley is reserved for the use of White House aides and their guests.
Timeline
The bowling alley is built in the West Wing to mark President Harry Truman's 63rd birthday, paid for by Missourians.
President Dwight Eisenhower moves the lanes to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
President Bill Clinton has the alley renovated.
GSA proposes a complete rebuild of the lanes, which it called "irreparable." An hour and a half after Time magazine broke the story, GSA canceled the project amid Republican backlash.
Trump's first term — First lady Melania Trump oversaw restoration of the original wooden lane, and the alley got updated electrical wiring, new mechanics and a fresh interior. That work was paid for by the Bowling Proprietors' Association of America, not taxpayers.
GSA awards the roughly $253,000 lighting contract to Charles Mann Enterprises.
GSA awards the same contractor $8,800 for escort services, accompanying outside workers through secure areas, tied to the bowling alley project. On the same day, the firm also lands a separate $878,000 contract for an "EEOB basement studio project." The listing gave no further detail; the bowling alley sits in that basement.
Reactions
The White House and GSA did not immediately respond to Politico's request for comment.
The last time a president went near these lanes, his own party's opposition made it a symbol. In 2014, then-Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus posted a list of funding needs with items like the economy and securing the border crossed out, and "Repair WH bowling alley" checked off with a link to the story.
The Republican-controlled House at the time adopted an amendment barring funds for renovating the White House bowling alley. Then-Rep. Pat Meehan (R-Pa.), who introduced it, likened the upgrade to ice cream — a "want," not a "need."
What's Next
The contracts are already awarded, so the lighting work and the escort arrangement are set to proceed unless the administration pulls them the way GSA did in 2014.
The bigger open question is the $878,000 "EEOB basement studio project," which the award listing does not explain. Any detail on what that studio is will have to come from the White House, GSA or further contract records.
More
The contractor, Charles Mann Enterprises, is a Washington-based construction management, facility support and procurement firm founded by Charles Mann — a four-time NFL Pro Bowler and three-time Super Bowl champion who spent most of his career with the Washington Redskins.
The bowling work lands as Trump pushes a far larger construction project at the complex: the ballroom built in place of the East Wing, which the Supreme Court cleared of major legal hurdles on Monday.
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