Editing J. Edgar Hoover Building (section)

==Design and construction ==

===Planning===
Since 1935, as an element of the [[United States Department of Justice]], the FBI had been headquartered in the [[Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building|Department of Justice Building]]. In March 1962, the [[John F. Kennedy#President (1961–1963)|Kennedy administration]] proposed spending $60 million to construct a headquarters for the FBI on the north side of Pennsylvania Avenue NW opposite the Justice Department. The administration argued that the FBI, which had offices in the Justice Department building as well as 16 other sites in the capital, was too dispersed to function effectively.<ref>Jackson, Luther P. "Two New U.S. Buildings, Renovation of 26 Asked." ''Washington Post.'' March 30, 1962.</ref> Initially, prospects for the new building seemed good. A House committee approved the budget request on April 11,<ref>"Two U.S. Buildings Here Part of $161 Million Plan." ''Washington Post.'' April 11, 1962.</ref> and a Senate committee approved it a day later.<ref>"Senate Unit Backs New FBI Home." ''Washington Post.'' April 12, 1962.</ref> But the [[United States House of Representatives]] deleted the funds when the budget reached the House floor. A budget [[United States congressional conference committee|conference committee]] then voted in September to restore enough funds for site selection, planning, and preliminary design.<ref>"Cash for New FBI Home Restored to GSA Budget." ''Washington Post.'' September 21, 1962.</ref>

The site selection process for the new FBI headquarters was largely driven by factors unrelated to organizational efficiency. By 1960, Pennsylvania Avenue was marked by deteriorating homes, shops, and office buildings on the north side and the monumental [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]] federal office buildings of [[Federal Triangle]] on the south side.<ref>Bednar, p. 24.</ref><ref name="Glazer151">Glazer, p. 151.</ref> Kennedy noticed the dilapidated condition of the street when his inaugural procession traversed Pennsylvania Avenue in January 1961.<ref name="Schrag68">Schrag, p. 68.</ref><ref>White, Jean M. "Avenue Grand Design Admired by Goldberg." ''Washington Post.'' September 29, 1964; White, Jean M. "Pennsylvania Ave. Designs Must Win Johnson's Support." ''Washington Post.'' December 12, 1963.</ref><ref name="Peck82">Peck, p. 82.</ref> At a [[Cabinet of the United States|cabinet]] meeting on August 4, 1961,<ref name="AdHocApproval">[http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=8690 Kennedy, John F. "Memorandum Concerning Improvements in federal Office Space and the Redevelopment of Pennsylvania Avenue." June 1, 1962. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304042055/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=8690 |date=March 4, 2016 }} Accessed September 30, 2012.</ref> Kennedy established the Ad Hoc Committee on Federal Office Space to recommend new structures to accommodate the growing federal government (which had constructed almost no new office buildings in the city since the Great Depression).<ref name="Peck82" /><ref>Gutheim and Lee, p. 323.</ref> Assistant Secretary of Labor [[Daniel Patrick Moynihan]] was assigned to help staff the committee.<ref>Schellenberg, p. 132.</ref> In the Ad Hoc Committee's final report, Moynihan proposed (in part) that Pennsylvania Avenue be redeveloped using the powers of the federal government. The report suggested razing every block north of Pennsylvania Avenue from the [[United States Capitol]] to 15th Street NW, and building a mixture of cultural buildings (such as museums and theaters), government buildings, hotels, office buildings, restaurants, and retail on these blocks.<ref name="Glazer151" /><ref name="Peck82" /><ref>Hess, p. 114-115; Hodgson, p. 79-81; Schellenberg, p. 133.</ref> Kennedy approved the report on June 1, 1962,<ref name="AdHocApproval" /> and established an informal "President's Council on Pennsylvania Avenue" to draw up a plan to redevelop Pennsylvania Avenue.<ref name="Schrag68" /><ref>Hess, p. 115; Hodgson, p. 80; Von Eckardt, Wolf. "It Could Be a Grand, Glorious Avenue." ''Washington Post.'' May 31, 1964.</ref>

The site selected by GSA on January 3, 1963, for the new FBI headquarters were two city blocks bounded by Pennsylvania Avenue NW, 9th Street NW, E Street NW, and 10th Street NW. GSA administrator Bernard Boutin said the site was selected after informal consultation with the President's Council on Pennsylvania Avenue and the [[National Capital Planning Commission]] (NCPC; which had statutory power to approve any major construction in the D.C. metropolitan area). Boutin said construction of the new FBI building would help revitalize the Pennsylvania Avenue area as suggested by both the Ad Hoc Committee on Federal Office Space and the President's Council on Pennsylvania Avenue. Boutin emphasized that the design of the new structure would be in harmony with other buildings planned by the President's Council on Pennsylvania Avenue, and would necessitate the closing of a short section of D Street NW between 9th and 10th Streets NW.<ref name="WhiteBlock">White, Jean M. "Block to North of Pennsylvania Ave. Selected as Site for New FBI Building." ''Washington Post.'' January 3, 1963.</ref> More than 100 small retail businesses were to be evicted.<ref>Bradley, Wendell P. "New FBI Site Will Oust 100 Merchants." ''Washington Post.'' January 4, 1963.</ref>

===Design===
The early consensus was that the new FBI building would avoid the block-filling style of box-like architecture advocated by the General Services Administration. Staff at the NCPC advocated an aggregation of smaller, interconnected buildings, while President's Council on Pennsylvania Avenue architectural consultant [[Nathaniel A. Owings]] suggested that small retail shops be incorporated into the ground floor of the building.<ref>Bradley, Wendell P. "FBI Building May Be Giving Ave. New Life." ''Washington Post.'' January 5, 1963.</ref> Staff at the President's Council on Pennsylvania Avenue said the council would "blow its top" if the FBI headquarters design was monolithic.<ref>Clopton, Willard. "Council Held Confident On FBI Building Plan." ''Washington Post.'' January 27, 1963.</ref>

In January 1963, GSA estimated that construction on the building would begin in 1964, and be complete in 1967.<ref name="WhiteBlock" /> In June 1963, GSA hired the firm of [[Charles Murphy (architect)|Charles F. Murphy and Associates]] to assist with the design.<ref name="AaronsGroupHails">Aarons, Leroy F. "Group Hails Design for FBI Offices." ''Washington Post.'' October 2, 1964.</ref><ref name="Combs">Combs, Abbott. "FBI Building Costs Set at $109 Million." ''Washington Post.'' December 11, 1971.</ref> Stanislaw Z. Gladych was the chief architect,<ref name="VonEckardtNewFedStyle">Von Eckardt, Wolf. "New 'Federal' Style Is Emerging For Government Office Buildings." ''Washington Post.'' October 22, 1964.</ref> and [[Carter Manny|Carter H. Manny, Jr.]] was the partner in charge.<ref name="Gapp">Gapp, Paul. "FBI Building—Mediocrity Frames a Macho Image." ''Chicago Tribune.'' January 8, 1978.</ref> Murphy and Associates struggled to meld competing views of what the building should be. The President's Council on Pennsylvania Avenue wanted a building with a pedestrian [[Arcade (architecture)|arcade]] on Pennsylvania Avenue side, and retail shops on the ground level on the other three sides. But the FBI rejected this view, instead advocating a structure which was bomb-proof on the first few stories and which had but a few, tightly secured access points elsewhere. Murphy and Associates initially designed a monumental building. This approach was rejected by GSA for wasting space and because it would draw criticism for its apparent misuse of taxpayer dollars on lavishness. Murphy and Associates next designed a "[[Chicago school (architecture)|Chicago school]]" structure. This was a rectangular building whose front was aligned along an east–west axis rather than Pennsylvania Avenue. This created a strong [[Setback (land use)|setback]] on Pennsylvania Avenue, which the architects turned into a pedestrian plaza. Although this design was largely accepted, the setback was not and the building's south side was again aligned with the avenue. Although the FBI was not extensively interested in the building's architectural design, mid- and low-level managers meddled extensively in the building's details (even while [[Technical drawing#Working drawings|working drawings]] were being completed).<ref name="Gapp" />

With design work still incomplete by April 1964, GSA pushed back the start of construction to 1966.<ref>"FBI Building Bids Seen in '66." ''Washington Post.'' April 21, 1964.</ref> On April 22, GSA announced that, after consulting informally with the NCPC, the FBI building would have two levels. The Pennsylvania Avenue façade would be four to six stories high, while the E Street side would rise to eight or nine stories. The goal was to avoid creating a solid front of monolithic office buildings along Pennsylvania Avenue NW.<ref>"Two Heights Planned for FBI's Home." ''Washington Post.'' April 23, 1964.</ref>

[[File:Elizabeth Ulman Rowe - NCPC.jpg|thumb|Elizabeth Ulman Rowe, chair of the NCPC from 1961 to 1968]]
On October 1, 1964, the NCPC approved the preliminary design of the FBI building.<ref name="AaronsGroupHails" /> During the design phase, the architects discovered that the NCPC supported the FBI's desire for a highly secure building, and this influenced the structure's design significantly.<ref name="Gapp" /><ref name="Huxtable">Huxtable, Ada Louise. "The F.B.I. Building: A Study in Soaring Costs and Capital Views On Beauty." ''New York Times.'' January 24, 1972.</ref> The plans by Murphy and Associates called for an eight-story structure on Pennsylvania Avenue and a 12-story building along E Street. The two buildings were connected by wings along 9th and 10th Streets NW, forming an open-air courtyard in the interior. A portion of these wings would push underground into the hill which rose behind Pennsylvania Avenue. The building was set back {{convert|70|ft|m}} from Pennsylvania Avenue. It also had underground parking accessible from 9th and 10th streets.<ref name="AaronsGroupHails" /> An open deck, designed to allow pedestrians to enter on E Street and stroll along the second floor of the building, existed on the east and west sides of the FBI building.<ref name="Gapp" /> The architects noted that this deck could be extended on the south (Pennsylvania Avenue) side.<ref name="AaronsGroupHails" /> The NCPC voiced only one concern. It worried that the "penthouses" atop the building (which were designed to conceal the [[HVAC]] and elevator equipment) were illegal. The penthouses raised the building's height to {{convert|172|ft|m}}—{{convert|12|ft|m}} higher than permitted by law.<ref name="AaronsGroupHails" />

The [[United States Commission of Fine Arts]] (CFA) reviewed the plans on October 21, 1964.<ref name="VonEckardtNewFedStyle"/><ref>Although the CFA is an advisory body, builders rarely proceeded without its approval. Under the [[Shipstead-Luce Act]] of 1930, however, CFA approval is required for the erection or alteration of any building on Pennsylvania Avenue NW between the US Capitol and White House and any street abutting it. See: Gutheim and Lee, p. 208.</ref> GSA and Murphy and Associates had declined to make the FBI building's plans public prior to this meeting.<ref name="AaronsGroupHails" /> During informal discussions with CFA staff in the initial design phase, the architects learned that the CFA wanted the FBI building to have a powerful base which appeared to anchor it to the earth.<ref name="Gapp" /> Although this was in direct conflict with the open architecture advocated by the President's Council on Pennsylvania Avenue, it was more in line with what the NCPC and FBI wanted. Since it was not clear whether the proposed design that had met with NCPC approval would be accepted by the CFA, the design was confidential so that changes could still be made without the appearance that they had been forced on the architects. The still-incomplete designs unveiled during the CFA meeting now showed a massive, three-story roof deck overhanging the main building on E Street, with glass [[curtain wall (architecture)|curtain wall]]-enclosed walkways connecting the Pennsylvania Avenue building to the 9th and 10th street wings. The trapezoidal interior courtyard was designed to hold sculpture and accommodate public exhibits about the FBI. The façade now exhibited repetitive, angular concrete elements similar to those used by [[Le Corbusier]] in the [[Punjab and Haryana High Court]] in Chandigarh, [[India]]; [[Paul Rudolph (architect)|Paul Rudolph]] in his [[Brutalist architecture|Brutalist]] [[Yale Art and Architecture Building]] at [[Yale University]] in [[New Haven, Connecticut]]; and [[Gyo Obata]] in the final design for the [[National Air and Space Museum]] in Washington, D.C.<ref name="VonEckardtNewFedStyle" />

===Funding and construction===
Although the Commission of Fine Arts did not approve the FBI building's final design until November 1967,<ref>The CFA never completely resolved its many concerns with the building. See: Kohler, p. 95-97.</ref> the first contract for land clearance and excavation was awarded in March 1965.<ref name="Combs" /> GSA also moved ahead with funding requests for construction in 1965. But securing that funding proved elusive. A [[Lyndon B. Johnson#Presidency (1963–1969)|Johnson administration]] request for $45.8 million in initial funding was denied by the [[United States House Committee on Appropriations|House Appropriations Committee]] in May.<ref>Eagle, George. "FBI Is Refused $45.8 Million For New Offices." ''Washington Post.'' May 7, 1965.</ref> Although both administration and FBI officials expressed confidence that the money would be restored,<ref>Clopton, William. "Officials Confident of FBI Office Funds." ''Washington Post.'' May 8, 1965.</ref> a House–Senate budget conference committee in August declined to include the funds in the fiscal 1966 budget.<ref>"Hill Conferees Drop Funds for New FBI Home, Patent Office." ''Washington Post.'' August 5, 1965.</ref>

The funding request fared better in 1966. Once again, the House Appropriations Committee cut the administration's $45.7 million funding request in May.<ref>"Funds for New FBI, Labor Buildings Killed by House Appropriations Unit." ''Washington Post.'' May 6, 1966.</ref> But with the land for the structure almost completely cleared, GSA would be left holding an empty lot if funding was not forthcoming. This prompted Congress to act. In October, a House–Senate budget conference committee recommended spending $11.3 million to excavate and build the foundation and to pour the first floor's concrete slab. Both chambers of Congress approved this expenditure late in the month.<ref>Carper, Elsie. "Funds Assured For FBI Building." ''Washington Post.'' October 22, 1966.</ref>

[[File:J Edgar Hoover Building penthouses 2012.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|Equipment "penthouses" atop the Hoover building created controversy over building height limits on Pennsylvania Avenue NW.]]
Design issues continued to plague the project, however. Throughout 1966, private developers fought with the General Services Administration in hearings before the NCPC, which was closing in on a decision to give final approval to the project. At issue were the {{convert|20|ft|m|adj=on}} high equipment penthouses atop the building. Private developers demanded that they be given the right to raise their buildings by the additional height as well, while other government agencies argued that giving the FBI building a height waiver would set a bad precedent and weaken government height restrictions along Pennsylvania Avenue. With the overhanging roof deck of the FBI building already having lost one of its three stories,<ref>Kohler, p. 97.</ref> the NCPC agreed to the waiver on December 1, 1966.<ref>"FBI Building Approved After Penthouse Fight." ''Washington Post.'' December 2, 1966.</ref> Meanwhile, the President's Council on Pennsylvania Avenue was still pushing for an arcade on the ground level along Pennsylvania Avenue NW. The Council argued that all buildings along Pennsylvania Avenue should include an arcade so that pedestrians could walk along the street somewhat protected from the elements. The FBI and private developers both opposed the arcade requirement. The Council believed that if the FBI were given an exemption from the requirement, it would be unable to enforce it with other builders. The FBI won the day by arguing that rapists and muggers would hide in the arcades, making Pennsylvania Avenue unsafe for pedestrians and workers. The NCPC agreed, and voted in favor of an exemption on September 14, 1967.<ref>Severo, Richard. "Plans Approved for FBI Building." ''Washington Post.'' September 15, 1967; Von Eckardt, Wolf. "Avenue Will Have A Missing Tooth." ''Washington Post.'' October 22, 1967.</ref>

Congress appropriated a total of $20.5 million in fiscal 1968, 1969, and 1970 to complete work on the substructure. The first contract for construction of the three-story substructure was awarded in November 1967.<ref name="HaileyNewHome">Hailey, Jean R. "New Home for FBI Expected To Be Costliest U.S. Building." ''Washington Post.'' June 19, 1970.</ref> By October 1969, construction of the substructure was under way.<ref>"A New Start for Pennsylvania Avenue." ''Washington Post.'' October 11, 1969.</ref> By June 1970, however, the cost for the FBI building had ballooned to $102.5 million. GSA officials blamed inflation for the cost increase. At the same time, GSA said that the contract for construction of the third story of the substructure was due to be awarded in March 1971.<ref name="HaileyNewHome" /> That contract went to Blake Construction.<ref name="Pincus">Pincus, Walter. "Hoover's Lasting Monument: New Headquarters for FBI." ''Washington Post.'' June 9, 1971.</ref> Construction of the eight-story Pennsylvania Avenue building, 11-story E Street building, and wings was estimated in June 1970 to begin in late 1973 or early 1974.<ref name="HaileyNewHome" />

Bids for work on the $68 million superstructure were opened in May 1971, and the job again awarded to Blake Construction.<ref name="Pincus" /> In December 1971, GSA announced that the cost of the building had risen by $7 million in the past year (to $109 million) due to inflation, a major design change, and the cost of the building's unusual features. The design change added {{convert|15800|sqft|m2}} of office space,<ref name="Combs" /> but also included special blast-proof paving around the building.<ref name="Huxtable" /> Just a month later, in January 1972, GSA reported that the cost of the building had risen to $126.108 million. A new completion date of July 1974 was also announced.<ref name="Huxtable" /> GSA later capped the building's cost at $126.108 million in August 1972. The agency blamed the cost increase on inflation; the use of different contracts for excavation, substructure construction, and superstructure construction; the construction of a [[pneumatic tube]] system, reinforced flooring, and a special fire detection and suppression system; and the unique requirements of the areas for the fingerprinting bureau. The agency also said that NCPC and CFA alterations increased the cost by $7.465 million.<ref name="Donin">Donin, Robert. "Halt Claimed to FBI Building Cost Rise." ''Washington Post.'' August 12, 1972.</ref>

By August 1972, the substructure was complete; the floor, columns, and roof of the first floor installed; and second floor columns poured. Although Congress had [[Authorization bill|authorized]] $126.108 million for the FBI building, it had yet to [[Appropriation bill|appropriate]] the money.<ref name="Donin" />

The FBI building neared completion in 1974. The first FBI personnel began moving into the building in October 1974, and [[Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI Director]] [[Clarence M. Kelley]] moved into his office in May 1975. By June 1975, the structure was 45 percent occupied. Construction on the building was due to end in September 1975, with the final personnel arriving in November 1975.<ref name="RobinsonMoves">Robinson, Gail. "FBI Moves After 8 Years, $126 Million." ''Washington Post.'' June 21, 1975.</ref>

President [[Gerald Ford]] dedicated the J. Edgar Hoover Building on September 30, 1975.<ref name="Goshko">Goshko, John. "Ford Dedicates $126 Million FBI Building." ''Washington Post.'' October 1, 1975.</ref>

===Naming===
[[File:Hoover-JEdgar-LOC.jpg|thumb|J. Edgar Hoover in 1961]]
Although the FBI building originally had no name, there were expectations that it would, in time, be dedicated to J. Edgar Hoover. ''Washington Post'' reporter [[Walter Pincus]] speculated in June 1971 that Hoover's name would be eventually attached to the building.<ref name="Pincus" /> Reporter Abbott Combs made the same claim in December 1971.<ref name="Combs" />

J. Edgar Hoover died on May 2, 1972. On May 3, the day after Hoover's death, the [[United States Senate]] passed a resolution asking that the incomplete FBI building be named for Hoover.<ref>Graham, Fred. "J. Edgar Hoover, 77, Dies." ''New York Times.'' May 3, 1972.</ref> The following day, President [[Richard Nixon]] directed the [[General Services Administration]] to designate the structure as the J. Edgar Hoover Building.<ref>[http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=3397 Nixon, Richard. "Eulogy Delivered at Funeral Services for J. Edgar Hoover." May 4, 1972. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304204440/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=3397 |date=March 4, 2016 }} Accessed September 29, 2012.</ref><ref>"New FBI Building Named for Hoover." ''Washington Post.'' August 3, 1972.</ref> Neither the Senate resolution nor Nixon's order had the force of law, however.

On May 25, 1972, as part of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Bicentennial Civic Center Act, the Senate passed legislation (S. 3943) legally designating the FBI building as the J. Edgar Hoover Building.<ref>"Washington: For the Record, May 25, 1972." ''New York Times.'' May 26, 1972.</ref><ref name="LegRefServ">Legislative Reference Service, p. 172.</ref> A similar bill in the United States House of Representatives (H.R. 16645) was also moving forward. The House bill was amended several times.<ref name="LegRefServ" /> The House subsequently passed S. 3943 on October 3, after amending it to include the amended language of H.R. 16645.<ref>Scientific and Technical Information Office, p. 338.</ref> The Senate agreed to the House amendments on October 14.<ref name="LegRefServ" /> Nixon signed the legislation into law as [[Act of Congress#Public law|Public Law]] 92–520 on October 21, 1972.<ref>Scientific and Technical Information Office, p. 358.</ref><ref>''United States Statutes At Large'', p. 1021.</ref>