Editing Federal Triangle (section)

===Completion: Roosevelt administration===
[[File:Exterior of the Federal Trade Commission building (3360757186).jpg|thumb|The completed [[Federal Trade Commission Building|Apex Building]] in 1940]]
Only one building remained to be constructed under the new administration of President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]. By December 1933, the President was preparing his proposal to Congress for full funding of the Apex Building construction project.<ref>"Government Building." ''Washington Post.'' December 12, 1933.</ref> But the Apex Building itself almost was not built, as Pope and others argued that it tended to hide the planned National Archives building.<ref name="Worthy" /><ref>"Protests on Apex Building Probed." ''Washington Post.'' December 14, 1933; "Apex Building Site Discussed." ''Washington Post.'' December 16, 1933.</ref><ref name="Ponders">"Arts Council Today Ponders Apex Building." ''Washington Post.'' December 15, 1933.</ref><ref name="DCPlanning">"D.C. Planning Before Three Bodies Today." ''Washington Post.'' January 18, 1934.</ref> Still others thought the site should be used for the proposed [[Jefferson Memorial]].<ref name="Worthy" /><ref>"Boylan Asks A Memorial On Apex Site." ''Washington Post.'' December 24, 1933.</ref> Through Roosevelt's personal intervention, the building was saved—but nearly all its external ornamentation was stripped, and plans for a terraced fountain nearby eliminated, although a small fountain was built in what eventually became known as Patrick Henry Park.<ref name="Worthy" /><ref name="Wentzel" /><ref name="Views">"Apex Building Views Sought Of Roosevelt." ''Washington Post.'' December 17, 1933.</ref> Construction of the building was re-approved on January 18, 1934.<ref>"Apex Building Fits Scheme, Says Planners." ''Washington Post.'' January 19, 1934.</ref> The building's final cost was estimated at just over $12 million.<ref name="AtLast">"Capitol Triangle At Last Completed." ''Associated Press.'' August 4, 1935.</ref>

In 1934, one building began construction and another finished. The Apex Building site began to be cleared in April.<ref name="Eyesore" /> The Post Office building was occupied on May 6,<ref>"Postoffice Staff Finally Starts Moving Into New Structure." ''Washington Post.'' May 7, 1934.</ref> and [[United States Postmaster General|Postmaster General]] [[James Farley]] dedicated the Post Office Department building on June 11, 1934.<ref>"Farley to Talk At Postal Rites." ''Washington Post.'' June 7, 1934; "Postal Building Dedication Set." ''Washington Post.'' June 11, 1934.</ref><ref name="Oratory">"Oratory Stirs Throng at U.S. Building Rites." ''Washington Post.'' June 12, 1934.</ref> Its final cost was $10.83 million, about half a million dollars over budget.<ref name="Oratory" /> Construction in the rest of the Triangle, however, seemed stalled.  Although some structures had been razed on the site, no appropriation had been made for the Apex Building.<ref name="AdamsGrows" /> The government had also cleared land northeast of the Internal Revenue building (as planners considered adding yet another building to the Triangle), but Congress was increasingly opposed to demolishing either the Old Post Office or the District Building.<ref name="AdamsGrows" /> City officials considered selling the District Building to the federal government as a means of raising cash to build a new city hall, but federal officials balked at the idea.<ref>"Plan to Sell City Building Is Revived." ''Washington Post.'' January 18, 1934; "D.C. Building Again Offered For Sale to U.S." ''Washington Post.'' November 29, 1936.</ref> President Roosevelt dedicated the newly opened Department of Justice building on October 25, 1934.<ref name="Ceremonies">"Ceremonies Open Justice Building." ''New York Times.'' October 26, 1934.</ref><ref>"Roof Finished, Justice Building Dedication Set, Rain or Shine." ''Washington Post.'' September 27, 1934; "President Attends Dedication of Classic Hall of Justice." ''Washington Post.'' October 26, 1934.</ref><ref name="Notables">Gordon, Evelyn Peyton. "Many Notables Attend Justice Unit Dedication." ''Washington Post.'' October 26, 1934.</ref> Chief Justice Hughes, all the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court, Attorney General [[Homer Stille Cummings]], and a large number of foreign ambassadors also attended the dedication.<ref name="Ceremonies" /><ref name="Notables" /> The $11 million structure had more than 550,000 square feet (51,200 square meters) of office space.<ref name="Ceremonies" /> By November 1934, the addition to the Internal Revenue building was nearing completion, and government officials were contemplating the razing of the District Building, Old Post Office Pavilion, and Southern Railway Building.<ref name="Within" />

The Labor/ICC and Archives buildings were opened in 1935. Numerous strikes (see below) had delayed the opening of the building for almost a year. In April 1934, Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins asked for additional (if minor) design changes.<ref>"Miss Perkins Asks Change in Labor Building." ''Washington Post.'' April 16, 1934.</ref> Pressing needs for office space meant that a portion of the ICC building was occupied before the structure was finished.<ref name="Within">"U.S. Triangle Buildings To Be Up Within Year." ''Washington Post.'' November 7, 1934.</ref> Minor alterations were made to the Labor building (such as creating a private rather than shared bathroom for the female Secretary) in January 1935.<ref>"Miss Perkins Won't Share Bath So New Labor Building Waits." ''Washington Post.'' January 18, 1935.</ref> [[United States Secretary of Labor|Secretary of Labor]] [[Frances Perkins]] dedicated the two buildings at a ceremony in the Departmental Auditorium on February 26, 1935, attended by AFL President William Green.<ref name="WorkICC" /><ref name="LaborEdifice">"Capital Dedicates New Labor Edifice." ''New York Times.'' February 26, 1935.</ref><ref>"New Building Dedicated Here To U.S. Labor." ''Washington Post.'' February 26, 1935.</ref> The Labor building's final cost was $4.5 million<ref name="LaborEdifice" /> and the ICC portion of the structure cost $4.45 million.<ref name="AtLast" /> The two buildings were connected by the 2,000-seat Departmental Auditorium (renamed the [[Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium]] in 1987).<ref name="AtLast" /><ref>The ICC was not the only agency to take up space in the building.  Due to the proliferation of [[New Deal]] government agencies and the lack of office space in the city, the ICC was forced to share office space for several years with the [[Federal Radio Commission]], the [[Resettlement Administration|Subsistence Homesteads Division]] of the Department of the Interior, the [[Tennessee Valley Authority]], and the [[Natural Resources Conservation Service|Soil Erosion Service]] of the Department of the Interior. See: "I.C.C. to Share Its Building." ''Washington Post.'' May 26, 1934.</ref> Meanwhile, construction forged ahead on the Archives building. Already considered too small to hold all the materials in its possession, a proposal had been made to add another story to the building.<ref name="Addition">"Archives Building Addition Dropped." ''Washington Post.'' March 26, 1935.</ref> This proposal was rejected in March 1935.<ref name="Addition" /> The National Archives building was occupied in November 1935, but had no formal dedication. Although the Archives structure had been one of the top priorities of almost all planners, it was one of the last buildings to be opened. Archives staff began moving into the building in November 1935, and the exhibition rotunda was opened to the public in November 1936.<ref>"Murals Portraying Nation's Birth Shown." ''New York Times.'' November 15, 1936; "Novel Safeguards Given to Archives." ''New York Times.'' September 4, 1938; [https://www.archives.gov/about/history/building-an-archives/building.html National Records and Archives Administration. "History of the National Archives Building." Archives.gov.  No date.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120106200738/http://www.archives.gov/about/history/building-an-archives/building.html |date=January 6, 2012 }} Accessed 2009-11-25.</ref> Records were not transferred in large numbers to the building until April 1937.<ref>"Records Go to New Archives." ''New York Times.'' April 18, 1937.</ref>

The Apex Building was the last to be constructed and dedicated. A major impetus for the building's construction came in June 1935, when the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) headquarters at C Street NW and 21st Street NW was razed to make way for the [[Eccles Building|Federal Reserve Board Building]].<ref name="Reserve">"Commission Asks Aid on New Home." ''Washington Post.'' June 15, 1935.</ref> The FTC petitioned the Commission on Fine Arts to permit it to occupy the Apex Building.<ref name="Reserve" /> Testing for the foundation began in September 1936, and was completed shortly thereafter.<ref>"Borers Test Site of Apex Building." ''Washington Post.'' September 3, 1936.</ref> With design work long completed and President Roosevelt expressing his wish that the structure be built, a $3.1 million contract for the building was signed on December 29, 1936.<ref>"$3,105,000 Contract Let For Building in District." ''Washington Post.'' December 30, 1936.</ref> Using the George Washington trowel, President Roosevelt laid the cornerstone for the building on July 12, 1937.<ref>"The Day in Washington." ''New York Times.'' July 13, 1937.</ref><ref name="Rite">"FTC Building Dedication Rite Set for Today." ''Washington Post.'' July 12, 1937.</ref> The building's $3.665 million cost was paid for out of [[Public Works Administration]] funds, and officials estimated it would be ready for occupation by January 1, 1938.<ref name="Rite" /> Demolition of the old foundation for the unbuilt Washington Memorial occurred in July 1937, and much of the Apex Building's steel superstructure was rising by then as well.<ref>Sadler, Christine. "Workmen Speed Foundation for $10,000,000 U.S. Art Gallery on Constitution Avenue." ''Washington Post.'' July 18, 1937.</ref> The great depth of the building's foundation meant that the crane operator lifting the steel beams into place was out of sight in the basement, and a series of telephone links from observers on the street relayed instructions to him.<ref>Ford, Elizabeth. "Huge Crane Is Operated by Engineer Hidden From Sight." ''Washington Post.'' September 6, 1937.</ref> By December 1937, the building was two months ahead of schedule.<ref name="Finished60days">"Federal Triangle Apex Building To Be Finished 60 Days Early." ''Washington Post.'' December 14, 1937.</ref>
{{multiple image
 | header = [[Relief]]s are found on numerous buildings throughout the complex
 | align = right
 | direction = horizontal
 | image1 = Exterior bas-relief, EPA East and West, located on 12th and Constitution Avenue, N.W. and part of the Federal Triangle, Washington, D.C LCCN2010719545.tif
 | width1 = 210
 | alt1 = female relief
 | caption1 = A relief of a female figure.
 | image2 = Exterior bas-relief, EPA East and West, located on 12th and Constitution Avenue, N.W. and part of the Federal Triangle, Washington, D.C LCCN2010719544.tif
 | width2 = 200
 | alt2 = male relief
 | caption2 = A relief of a male figure.
}}
One of the most important aspects of the new building was the group of massive sculptures to be installed on either side of the structure.  A jury of four nationally known sculptors ([[Paul Manship]], [[Adolph Alexander Weinman]], [[Lee Lawrie]], and [[William E. Parsons]]) selected the artist in January 1938.<ref name="ReliefRolls">"Sculptor, on WPA Relief Rolls, Wins $45,600 Federal Contract." ''Washington Post.'' January 27, 1938.</ref><ref>"Notables Inspect Sculptured Models Offered In Competition for Apex Building Adornment." ''Washington Post.''January 20, 1938; "Sculpture to Enhance Apex Building's Beauty." ''Washington Post.'' January 22, 1938; "200 Sculptors Await Washington Verdict." ''New York Times.'' January 26, 1938.</ref> The winner was [[Michael Lantz]], an award-winning instructor in sculpting then employed by the [[Works Progress Administration]].<ref name="ReliefRolls" /><ref>"PA Teacher Wins Sculpture Award." ''New York Times.'' January 27, 1938.</ref> The Apex Building had no dedication. The commission and staff moved into the 125,000 square foot (11,625 square metres) building on April 21, 1938.<ref name="Finished60days" /><ref>[http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/history/docs/90thAnniv_Program.pdf Bailey, Judith and Hamill, James. "Note on the Federal Trade Commission Building." ''90th Anniversary Symposium.'' Washington, D.C.: Federal Trade Commission, September 22-23, 2004.] Accessed 2009-11-25; "FTC Acquires Own Quarters; Neat, Not Gaudy." ''Washington Post.'' April 22, 1938.</ref>

Artwork, exterior details, landscaping, and other finishing touches on the construction of Federal Triangle occupied the period from 1938 to 1947. Landscaping issues of the Grand Plaza and Circular Plaza were considered in January 1934.<ref name="DCPlanning" /> To protect the Federal Triangle from flooding by the Potomac River (as had happened in 1871), the north and west grounds of the [[Washington Monument]] were raised in the summer of 1938 by about six feet (two metres) in order to form a [[dyke (construction)|dike]] against any future floodwaters.<ref>"Dike Will Protect Federal Triangle." ''Washington Post.'' January 16, 1938.</ref> The final art installation in the complex was the [[Oscar Straus Memorial|Oscar Straus Memorial Fountain]], designs for which were first considered in December 1933.<ref name="Ponders" /> Plans for the memorial were brought before President Roosevelt for his approval the same month.<ref name="DCPlanning"/><ref name="Views" /> Discussion continued into 1934.<ref name="DCPlanning" /> The Federal Triangle project was considered complete with the installation of the Straus Memorial in 1947.<ref name="Wentzel" />

But the Great Plaza was never built. Instead, the area was turned into a parking lot.<ref name="GreatPlaza">"Great Plaza Again Asked For Square." ''Washington Post.'' October 7, 1955.</ref>