The Eisenhower Memorial Commission said it did not meet for nearly two years during the time it was selecting the memorial’s chief architect.
During his testimony before a House of Representative subcommittee Tuesday, Brig. Gen. Carl Reddel responded to an allegation by the National Civic Art Society that the commission was withholding minutes from meetings between July 2007 and March 2009.
“Where are those minutes and can we get a copy of them?” asked subcommittee Chair Rob Bishop, a Utah Republican.
Reddel responded, “There was not a meeting at the commission at that time … from March of ’07 to July of ’09. I believe that’s correct. In other words the business of the meetings at that time did not include the full commission.”
“That’s unusual,” Bishop said.
However the National Civic Art Society contends that time period is when the commission was discussing its selection of the architect for the memorial. The commission ultimately selected Frank Gehry, whose design is now being contested by the Eisenhowers.
The art society issued a report earlier this year alleging that the competition to select the architect was geared for Gehry from the start.
