T
HE STORY OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST offi ce building is one of false starts and last-minute changes, of cost overruns and political squabbles. Before World War II, the War Department was housed in 17 buildings scattered around Washington, D.C.
The agency moved into the Munitions Building on the National Mall in Au- gust 1939, but when Germany invaded France in 1940 — and with the subse- quent rapid mobilization of the Army — Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson told President Franklin D. Roosevelt an even larger space would be needed. Army Brig. Gen. Brehon Somervell,
head of the construction division of the Quartermaster Corps, was put in charge of the project, with Col. Leslie Groves representing the Army, and the search for a large tract of land near the Capitol began. With the president’s approval, the 67-acre Arlington Farms tract was selected for the new build- ing, and Somervell instructed War Department Chief Architect George Bergstrom to begin drawing up plans.
Form follows function The site was shaped like a lopsided pentagon, which dictated the build-
58 MILITARY OFFICER SEPTEMBER 2016
ing’s design. Bergstrom settled on a layout that featured an outer and inner ring with more than 5 million square feet of space and just four sto- ries, so as not to overshadow nearby Arlington National Cemetery in Vir- ginia. The estimated cost would be $35 million, a staggering amount at the time (approximately $500 mil- lion today). Nevertheless, Congress approved the tab and three contrac- tors were selected to begin work. But Roosevelt began having sec-
ond thoughts about the site due to its proximity to the cemetery. In his book The Pentagon: A History, Steve Vogel describes the summer day in 1941 when the president, along with Somervell and other major project offi cials, drove out to a new site known as Hell’s Bottom and, over Somervell’s objections, decided on the spot to relocate the War Depart- ment building there.
With the clock ticking, there
was no time to redesign the giant edifi ce, but that didn’t matter to Roosevelt. In his view, the new build- ing could store old records after “the emergency” was over. On Sept. 11, 1941, with fi nal designs for much of the building still pending, the fi rst piles were driven, and the project was underway.
A massive undertaking Somervell promised he could fi n- ish the building in just one year, but reality soon intervened. Despite a large team of draftsmen and engi- neers working nearly nonstop on blueprints, the process quickly fell behind, so a unique strategy was em- ployed: The design for the fi rst wedge would be used to construct the others. The soggy nature of the site and
a shortage of steel meant pilings would have to be concrete. Rather
PHOTOS: ABOVE, FACING PAGE TOP, AND PREVIOUS SPREAD, OSD HISTORI- CAL OFFICE; FACING PAGE MIDDLE, USGS; FACING PAGE BOTTOM, USN
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