Type Multi-use Demolished January 2013 | Condition Fair Year built 1941 | |
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Over the navy annex featuring terry morin
The Navy Annex was a building near the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia mainly used as offices for the United States Department of the Navy. The facility was also known as Federal Office Building 2. It was demolished in 2013 to make room for an expansion of Arlington National Cemetery and other uses.
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Navy annex
Early history
The Navy Annex was originally built as a warehouse in 1941, with one million square feet of space arranged into eight wings. It housed 6000 workers at its peak. The building was not considered to be architecturally distinguished, and it was never renovated during its lifetime except for minor upgrades made in the 1970s.
In November 1941, the United States Marine Corps moved their headquarters from the Main Navy Building on the National Mall to the Navy Annex, where it would stay until 1996. During this time the Commandant of the Marine Corps was the only one of the four Department of Defense service chiefs who did not have his office in the Pentagon. The Missile Defense Agency also came to be located in the Navy Annex. During the September 11 attacks, when the Navy Command Center at the Pentagon was destroyed, it was reconstituted at the Navy Annex.
Demolition
Proposals for the demolition of the Navy Annex in 1998 led to concerns that Arlington County officials had not been properly consulted. In October 1999, Congress passed the FY2000 National Defense Authorization Act with a provision requiring the Navy Annex to be demolished and the land transferred to the adjacent Arlington National Cemetery.
The easternmost of the eight wings was demolished in 2004 to make space for the United States Air Force Memorial. The Air Force Memorial was originally planned to be in Arlington National Cemetery near the Marine Corps War Memorial, but concerns about it being intrusive at that location led it to be moved.
The building was used as temporary space for offices dislocated by the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure process, as well as the ongoing Pentagon Renovation Program. This caused the building's life to be extended to 2011. Occupants refused to vacate the premises by the date set by the demolition program manager, causing him to cut off food service and remove the ATM to get them to leave. For the year after the building was emptied, it was used for training exercises for law enforcement officials including SWAT teams, some of which included paintball and controlled explosions.
Demolition began in 2012. According to the demolition contractor, 90% of the materials resulting from the demolition would be recycled, such as crushed concrete that can be used for constructing new buildings in the Washington, DC area. After the demolition is complete, 12 feet of dirt will be replaced to return the area to green space suitable for grave sites. Most of the land will be used as up to 30,000 grave sites for Arlington National Cemetery. There are also plans for a black history museum commemorating the Civil War-era Freedman's Village, which was immediately adjacent to the site. There will also be a realignment of Columbia Pike.