How big is a ballroom of 90,000 square feet? Enormous doesn’t even come close.
A standard doubles tennis court is 78 by 36 feet, or 2,808 square feet.
So divide 90,000 by 2,800 and you’ll see that the ballroom is as big as 32 tennis courts.
The current White House (two basements and four main levels) is only 55,000 square feet. The east and west wings together total 12,000 square feet, for a total of 67,000.
I ask: Does anyone’s house need the addition of one room that’s almost 35% bigger than their existing house?
Alfred Sasiadek, Lauderhill
Better than ever
Ground has been broken to build the big, beautiful, new White House ballroom.
Completely separate from the White House itself, the East Wing is being fully modernized and will be more beautiful than ever when completed. For more than 150 years, presidents have dreamed about having a ballroom at the White House to accommodate grand parties and state visits.
The White House ballroom is being privately funded by generous Americans, great companies and President Trump. It will be happily used for generations to come.
Paul Bacon, Hallandale Beach
A lack of civility
Authorities in Birmingham, England have banned Israeli fans from attending a soccer match there in November.
England is known for its dedication to sportsmanship, civility and proper behavior. As The Wall Street Journal reported, a British Islamic scholar, Asrar Rashid, said, “We will not show them (Israeli soccer fans) mercy” in Birmingham. Civility? Good sportsmanship?
When English police and government ban soccer fans because of fear that other spectators will attack them, that is an abandonment of English values and of the duties of the police. That authorities anticipate violence or mob behavior by local spectators speaks volumes of what English culture has become.
This is not the England that inspired our American values. It’s been said that as goes England, so goes the United States. All this bodes very ill, not only for England but for our country as well.
Neil Kay, Sunrise
Shut down the shutdown
Let’s tell members of Congress that, like all federal employees who don’t show up for work, they will not get paid. If that happens, the federal government shutdown will be over.
Bob Goldberg, Hollywood
Express lane insanity
After waiting several traffic-filled, frustrating years for express lanes to be completed in Broward, it appears it’s on the verge of being done. But the only northbound exit on I-95 to downtown Fort Lauderdale, the largest city and cultural and government center of Broward, is five miles away from Broward Boulevard at Sheridan Street in Hollywood.
Almost as big an insult, there’s going to be an exit on the express lanes directly to I-595, but it will be in the opposite direction of Fort Lauderdale and its international airport.
Did somebody from Fort Lauderdale insult the planners at FDOT?
Bernard M. Cassidy, Fort Lauderdale
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