Existing comment:
A Landmark Rededicated: June 29, 2002:
By 1992, the building was in need of extensive renovation and deemed unsafe for occupation. The District government was compelled to vacate the once elegant, now dilapidated structure.
Long informally known as the District Building, it was formally renamed by DC Law 10-69 on February 11, 1994. The building's official name honors John A Wilson, former Chairman of the DC Council and Council Member of Ward 2 for twelve years.
In September 2001, the Mayor, DC Council, and the Executive Office of the Mayor reoccupied the thoroughly renovated Wilson Building. The fifth floor, which was once the attic, is now home to the Office of the Mayor and Chamber for the DC Council.
On June 29, 2002, the Mayor and the DC Council hosted a program and open house to rededicate the John A. Wilson Building as the District's seat of government. The Wilson Building is now designated a Historic Landmark by the Joint Committee on Landmarks and is listed in the inventory of the National Register of Historic Places.
"Whereas the American Renaissance marked the high point of the classical tradition and enriched our country from Coast to Coast with countless architectural works of timeless dignity and beauty, including the John A. Wilson building, the seat of government of the District of Columbia..."
-- US House of Representatives Resolution, July 31, 2008, commemorating the 500th anniversary of the birth of the Italian architect Andrea Palladio.
Chronology:
1959:
A portrait of Margaret Eliot of former Commissioner Louis Brownlow is presented to the DC Government and hung in Room 500 of the District (Wilson) Building (January 26). Brownlow, a pioneer of the public administration training movement, served as Commissioner from 1915 to 1921. He was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson.
1961:
John B. Duncan becomes the first African-American appointed as a Commissioner. He was nominated by President John F. Kennedy and served until 1967, when the DC government was reorganized.
1964:
A ceremony accepting a memorial tablet honoring DC native Stewart Holland to be placed in the vestibule of the District (Wilson) Building is held (May 22). On September 22, 1854, Holland fired a ship's cannon for four hours, trying to attract rescuers to the steamship Arctic, which was sinking of the Grand Banks. He went down with the ship. |