Existing comment:
Demolition Averted: 1926-1931:
The future of the District Building came into question less than two decades after its opening. With the federal government desperately short of office space within the city, Congress passed the 1926 Public Building Act. This legislation authorized the design and construction of a new office space "as nearly in harmony with the plan of Pierre Charles L'Enfant as may be practical."
Today, the result of that act is the Federal Triangle. The original plans for the Federal Triangle called for the demolition of the District Building to help create a uniform facade along Pennsylvania Avenue.
The economic hardships of the Depression and public outcry at the demotion of "one of the most attractive and majestic structures in the Nation's Capital" made Congress reluctant to pass the funding necessary for demolition. The building survived as the seat of the growing District government.
Over the following decades, the space allocated to various departments within the building became inadequate. Original tenants moved out of the building. New tenants altered the interior to suit their needs. At one point during World War II, the first-floor Great Hall housed soldiers.
"Senator Hiram Bingham of Connecticut is to be commended for his efforts to prevent the tearing down of the District Building to clear the path for a new Federal structure or to make a partway. [sic]"
-- Editorial, Washington Herald, July 13, 1931
"I once knew every press room in town. My favorite was at the District Building, which one entered through swinging doors reminiscent of a frontier bar... After Watergate, a sign was posted above the press room sofa. It read 'Carl Bernstein slept here.'"
-- Sam Smith, Washington History, Fall/Winter, 1995-96
Chronology:
1942:
US Army soldiers are quartered on ground floor of District (Wilson) Building. Troops are on duty to guard bridges and Federal buildings.
1950:
A replica of Liberty Bell cast in France is placed at main entrance of District (Wilson) Building. The bell was a duplicate of the original without the crack. All 48 States and the District of Columbia received a bell. The bells were to be prominently displayed to inspire patriotism and promote sale of US Savings Bonds. By 1960, the bell was sited in a small street island in front of the District Building. It is now located in the west entrance of the US Treasury Building.
1953:
President Eisenhower appoints Samuel Spencer, a DC native, to the Board of Commissioners to desegregate the nation's capital. As Board President, Spencer initiates an order directing all hiring and promotions in the DC government to be based solely on qualifications and merit without regard to "race, creed, or color." |