From its inception
in 1908 as the Bureau of Investigation until 1975, the main offices
of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had been housed
in the Department of Justice Building. The first request for
a separate FBI building occurred in 1939. Although the Public
Buildings Agency initiated plans for an FBI building in 1941,
American entry into World War II necessitated postponing all
government building projects. The next serious request to Congress
for a separate building was not made until 1961.
Congress approved a
separate FBI building in April, 1962. The General Services Administration
(GSA), which handled public building construction, allocated
$12,265,000 for architectural and engineering design. At that
time, the total estimated cost was $60,000,000. GSA selected
Charles F. Murphy and Associates, Chicago, Illinois, as architects,
and Berswenger, Hoch, Arnold and Associates, Akron, Ohio, for
engineering. The National Capital Planning Commission approved
the site; the building design required approval from the National
Capital Planning Commission, GSA, the Commission on Fine Arts,
and the Pennsylvania Avenue Advisory Council. Although all conferences
between GSA and the architects were open to Bureau representatives,
and GSA sought FBI opinion, neither the FBI nor the Department
of Justice had to approve the exterior design. The, Bureau, however,
allocated the interior space.
On January 2, 1963,
GSA announced the approval of the site for the FBI building bounded
by Pennsylvania Avenue and E Street and Ninth and Tenth Streets,
Northwest. GSA purchased the land at a of cost $41.17 per square
foot. The original design prepared in 1963 by Charles F. Murphy
and Associates was a traditional box-like structure. It incorporated
the Bureau's request for a central core of files surrounded by
offices.
The Pennsylvania Avenue
Advisory Council revealed its grand design for Pennsylvania Avenue
in April, 1964. The Council envisioned a rejuvenated Pennsylvania
Avenue, its north side lined with shops and buildings with open
arcades and courtyards. Because major parades marched down the
Avenue, all new buildings would have open second floors to accommodate
spectators. The FBI building would be the first government structure
to be built on the Avenue's north side. Therefore, the Pennsylvania
Avenue Advisory Council urged GSA to redesign the building to
conform to the plan. GSA agreed.
The final FBI building
design incorporated many features of the 1964 Pennsylvania Avenue
proposal, with modifications primarily governed by security considerations.
The building has an open mezzanine and courtyard, but access
to the courtyard is limited, and most of the first floor is closed
to facilitate security. Recessed panels along the ground floor
were spaced to give the illusion of two-story columns, thus producing
an arcade-like facade. Also for security reasons, no stores were
included on the first floor. The main part of the building, facing
E Street, retained the idea of a central core of files.
On October 7, 1964,
the National Capital Planning Commission approved the major design
concept with its security modifications. The approved plan consisted
of 2,800,876 square feet of space for 7,090 employees. Height
limits of 107 feet (seven stories) along Pennsylvania Avenue
and 160 feet (eleven stories) along E Street conformed to the
Pennsylvania Avenue Advisory Council and District of Columbia
requirements.
For reasons of economy,
the approving agencies insisted upon poured concrete as the major
outside building material. The concrete used for the FBI building
contained an aggregate of crushed dolomite limestone, a unique
composition. While contrasting with the traditional marble, granite,
or limestone Government buildings, it echoed a major architectural
style of the 1960s. The concrete was poured into reusable steel
forms separated by metal ties. The ties remained in the concrete
when the molds were removed. This technique produced an architectural
feature of evenly spaced holes throughout the exterior.
GSA decided to use a
phased construction process in order to commence the project
after delays caused by the removal of GSA building appropriations
from the Federal budget and numerous design changes. Phase I
consisted of clearing the site and building the foundation. On
November 9, 1967, the Bureau of the Budget authorized GSA to
award construction for the first phase to Norair Construction
Company. Construction started December 6, 1967. Blake Construction
Company received the contract for Phase 11, the construction
of the remainder of the building, November 11, 1971. The need
for supplemental appropriations, further design changes, and
strikes by construction workers caused further delays. Inflation
caused construction costs to rise daily. When completed, the
building cost $126,108,000 - $106,000,000 more than the 1939
proposal.
The first FBI employees
moved into the new building June 28, 1974. At that time, FBI
Headquarters offices were housed in nine separate locations.
By May 30, 1975, the Director, the Associate Director, and several
Divisions had moved in. Thirty-eight years after the first proposal
for a separate FBI building and 15 years after Congress approved
construction on the Pennsylvania Avenue site, the last employees
moved into the building in June, 1977.
The building received
its official name, the J. Edgar Hoover F.B.I. Building, through
Public Law, 92-520, which President Richard Nixon signed May
4, 1972, two days after Director Hoover's death. President Gerald
Ford dedicated the building September 30, 1975.
|