Everything about The Pentagon totally explained
The Pentagon is the
headquarters of the
United States Department of Defense, located in
Arlington,
Virginia. As a
symbol of the
U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used
metonymically to refer to the
Department of Defense rather than the
building itself.
Designed by the
Swedish American architect George Bergstrom (1876 – 1955) and built by
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania general contractor John McShain, the building was dedicated on
January 15,
1943 after ground was broken for
construction on
September 11 1941. Colonel
Leslie Groves was responsible for overseeing the project in 1940–42, and his administrative ability, drive and forcefulness led to his nomination to head the
Manhattan Project in 1942.
The Pentagon is one of the world's largest office buildings. It houses approximately 23,000 military and
civilian employees
Just south of the Pentagon are
Pentagon City and
Crystal City, extensive shopping and high-density residential districts in
Arlington.
Arlington National Cemetery is to the north. The
Washington Metro Pentagon station is also located at the Pentagon, on the
Blue and
Yellow Lines. The Pentagon is surrounded by the complex
Pentagon road network.
History
Construction
Prior to the construction of the Pentagon, the
War Department was housed in a series of "temporary" buildings erected during
World War I which nearly covered the
National Mall. Ground was broken for the Pentagon on
September 11,
1941, with construction completed in approximately sixteen months at a cost of $83 million. A minimal amount of steel was used in construction, which was in short supply during
World War II. 680,000 tons of sand, dredged from the
Potomac River, was used in the reinforced
concrete structure.
Its unusual shape results from the fact that its originally intended site,
Arlington Farms, fronted on Arlington Ridge Road and the
Arlington Memorial Bridge approach, which intersected at an angle of approximately 108 degrees (the angle of a
regular pentagon). President
Franklin D. Roosevelt had it constructed at its current location because he didn't want the new building to obstruct the view of
Washington, D.C. from
Arlington Cemetery, but the building retained its pentagonal shape because a major redesign at that stage would have been costly and because Roosevelt liked the design. Freed of the constraints of the asymmetric Arlington Farms site, however, it was modified into a regular pentagon.
Renovation
As originally built, most Pentagon office space consisted of open bays which spanned an entire ring. These offices used
cross-ventilation from operable windows instead of air conditioning for cooling. Gradually, bays were subdivided into private offices with many using
window air conditioning units.
Since 1998, the Pentagon has been undergoing a major renovation, known as the
Pentagon Renovation Program. This program, scheduled to be completed in 2010, involves the complete gutting and reconstruction of the entire building in phases to bring the building up to modern standards, removing asbestos, improving security and providing greater efficiency for Pentagon tenants. Recently, the process of sealing all of the building's windows began.
The new space will include a return to open office bays, with a new
Universal Space Plan of standardized office furniture and partitions developed by
Studios Architecture.
In the center courtyard a refreshment stand called the "
Ground Zero Cafe", is being replaced with a more modern restaurant.
Protests
During the late 1960s the Pentagon became a focus for protests against the
Vietnam War. In one of the better known incidents, on
October 21,
1967, some 35,000 anti-war protesters organized by the
National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, gathered for a demonstration at the Defense Department (the "March on the Pentagon"), where they were confronted by some 2,500 armed soldiers.
Abbie Hoffman satirically declared the group's intention of levitating the Pentagon by means of meditation, wobbling it once in mid-air in order to exorcise evil spirits.
On
May 19 1972, the American radicals known as the
Weather Underground Organization successfully planted and exploded a bomb in a Pentagon restroom in retaliation for the
Nixon administration's bombing attacks on
Hanoi during the final stages of the
Vietnam War.
On
March 17 2007, an estimated 4,000 to 15,000 protested the
Iraq War. The protesters marched from the
Lincoln Memorial, down
Route 27 to the Pentagon’s north parking lot. Estimates of actual protestors varies significantly because the march area is in the area of the National Mall, the Lincoln Memorial, and Arlington; and a high number of tourists curiously attracted to the march may have been included in the tallies.
September 11, 2001
"Exactly 60 years to the day after the groundbreaking ceremony, the September 11, 2001 attacks occurred. American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the west side of the Pentagon after being hijacked, killing all aboard as well as over a hundred people within the Pentagon. The flight penetrated three of the five rings of the Pentagon. Because the affected area was under renovation at the time, several offices were unoccupied, sparing many lives. The aircraft struck on the edge between two sections—one of which had just finished being upgraded.
Contractors involved in the Pentagon Renovation Program were also charged with the task of rebuilding the damaged section of the Pentagon following the attacks. This additional project was named the "Phoenix Project", with the goal of having the outermost offices in the damaged section occupied again by September 11, 2002. Part of the pre-attack renovation had involved adding improved security features, including walls and windows with greater blast resistance. An initial analysis suggested that the section's improvements had saved lives, enabling more people to evacuate. Repairs included demolition of the damaged areas, complete rebuilding of the area that had previously been renovated, and reconstruction of the shell of the unrenovated section. The first Pentagon tenants whose offices were damaged in the attack began moving back in on August 15, 2002, nearly a month ahead of schedule.
The repairs cost the Department of Defense about $500,000,000. Before the September 11, 2001 attacks, an escalator ran from the Metro station to the Pentagon lobby. After the attack this escalator was blocked off and later removed as part of the Pentagon Renovation Program."
Pentagon Memorial
A memorial is being constructed at The Pentagon in memory of those who died at The Pentagon and on
American Airlines Flight 77. Construction of the memorial is scheduled for completion by September 2008. For the 5th anniversary of the
September 11, 2001 attacks, a memorial of 184 beams of light shone up from the center courtyard of the Pentagon, one light for every victim of the attack.
Navigating the building
There is a concourse on the southeast side of the second floor of the building. It contains a mini-shopping mall. Located near the Metro bus and rail stations, this is the main entrance for visitors.
Floors in The Pentagon are lettered "B" for Basement and "M" for
Mezzanine, both of which are below ground level. The concourse is located on the second floor at the metro entrance. Above ground floors are numbered 1 to 5.
The concentric rings are designated from the center out as "A" through "E" (with addition "F" and "G" in the basement). "E" Ring offices are the only ones with outside views and are generally occupied by senior officials.
Office numbers go clockwise around each of the rings, and have two parts: a nearest-corridor number (1 to 10) followed by a bay number (00 to 99), so office numbers range from 100 to 1099. These corridors radiate out from the central courtyard, with corridor 1 beginning with the Concourse's south end. Each numbered radial corridor intersects with the corresponding numbered group of offices (for example, corridor 5 divides the 500 series office block)...
Room numbers are given as the floor, concentric ring, and office number (which is in turn the nearest corridor number followed by the bay number). Thus, office 2B315 is on the second floor, B ring, and nearest to corridor 3 (between corridors 2 and 3). One way to get to this office would be to go to the second floor, get to the A (innermost) ring, go to and take corridor 3, and then turn left on ring B to get to bay 15.
Protection and security
The
Pentagon Force Protection Agency is a United States government agency comprising both sworn
Federal Police Officers, the
United States Pentagon Police and civilian CBRN technicians, as well as non-sworn civilian anti-
terrorism investigative and physical
security personnel, and is responsible for the protection of the Pentagon, headquarters of the United States Department of Defense (DoD). In response to the terrorist attack against the Pentagon on
September 11, 2001, the DoD established the new agency, which absorbed the Defense Protective Service (DPS), and assumed its role of providing basic
law enforcement and security for the Pentagon and DoD interests in the National Capitol Region (NCR).
PFPA expanded that
mission to provide force protection against the full spectrum of potential threats through robust
prevention,
preparedness,
detection, and
response measures. The agency provides those services to the 280 acre (1.1 km²) "Pentagon Reservation" as well as numerous other Department of Defense activities and facilities within the NCR. The United States Pentagon Police is the primary federal law enforcement arm of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency.
Services
The Pentagon has many of its own fast food operations, including
Subway,
McDonald's,
Dunkin' Donuts,
Panda Express,
Starbucks,
Sbarro, among others. A multibranded
KFC,
Pizza Hut, and
Taco Bell restaurant opened in 2003, when renovations to the food court were completed. Food services are managed by the
Navy Exchange. The Center Courtyard Cafe is reopening in Spring 2008, replacing the "Ground Zero Cafe" snack bar that was previously there.
The Pentagon Athletic Center (PAC), a
fitness center for military and civilian staff, opened in 2004 adjacent to the north side of the Pentagon, replacing the Pentagon Officers Athletic Club (POAC) which had operated for 55 years in a structure between Route 110 and the parade grounds.
Each year, the Pentagon grounds are a major focus for hosting the
Marine Corps Marathon and the
Army Ten-Miler running events.
Tours
There are a number of historical displays in the building, particularly in the "A" and "E" rings. In 1976, the Pentagon began offering guided tours to the general public, as part of the
American Bicentennial. Tours for the general public were suspended after the
September 11, 2001 attacks, and are now only available on a pre-arranged basis to
veterans and other groups.
Pentagon in popular culture
Abbie Hoffman's comment about
levitating the building during the
October 21,
1967 demonstration became the basis for the plot element in the
metafictional novel
Illuminatus! by
Robert Shea and
Robert Anton Wilson that the soldiers prevented the levitation because it also would have
exorcised the
Lovecraftian
Outer God Yog-Sothoth, deliberately entrapped within the Pentagon by the
Illuminati.
(External Link
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Facts and figures
- Construction began September 11, 1941.
- Construction was completed on January 15, 1943.
- Total cost of project (including outside facilities) was $83,000,000 (over $940 million in 2005 dollars).
Land
Total land area:
Location: 38.87099°N, 77.05596°W
Cost: $2,245,000
Area covered by Pentagon bldg:
Area of center court:
Access highways built: 30 miles (48 km)
Overpasses and bridges built: 35
Parking
Parking space:
Capacity (vehicles): 8,770
Main building
Cost of building: $49,600,000
Gross floor area:
Cubic contents:
Length of each outer wall:
Height of building: 77 ft 3.5 in (24 m)
Number of floors, plus mezzanine and basement: seven, five above ground, two below
Total length of corridors: 17.5 miles (28 km)
Protected by the Pentagon Force Protection Agency- United States Pentagon Police
Numbers
Stairways: 131
Escalators: 19
Elevators: 13
Windows: 7,754
Rest rooms: 284
Fixtures: 4,900
Drinking fountains: 691
Clocks installed: 4,200
Light fixtures: 16,250
Daily lamp replacements: 250
Total glass area:
Telephone cable:
Telephone calls made daily: 200,000
Pieces of mail handled monthly by the Defense Post Office: 1,200,000
Zip codes
Even though the building is located in Virginia, the United States Postal Service requires that "Washington, D.C." be used in conjunction with the six ZIP Codes assigned to it:
Further Information
Get more info on 'The Pentagon'.
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