White House fencing will be replaced this summer with a taller,13-foot high structure, the Washington Post reported.
The National Capital Planning Commission reviewed and approved a proposal from the National Park Service and the United States Secret Service showing the new fence height will include an 18-inch stone base, with a foot of anti-climb measures.
The 3,500-foot fence surrounding White House grounds currently stands at about eight feet high.
"The improvements intend to balance security needs with the visual quality of this nationally-significant public space," the commission wrote.
Thomas Luebke, secretary of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, signed off on the plan.
"It’s hard to find a more significant historic property in the city," Luebke told The Hill. "This is going to be a big change in terms of what it looks like from the outside, so we wanted to take it very, very seriously and carefully."
The Post reported six vehicular and nine pedestrian gates surrounding the White House will also be replaced. Construction of the improvements will continue into 2021, the news outlet reported.
The upgrades come in the wake of attempts by trespassers to scale the fence. In March 2017, a man climbed the fence on was on the White House lawn for more than 15 minutes before he was arrested.
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