The Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, named after former
United States President
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United State ...
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
, is located in downtown
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, and was the first federal building in Washington designed for both governmental and private sector purposes.
Each of the organizations located in the
Pennsylvania Avenue
Pennsylvania Avenue is a diagonal street in Washington, D.C., and Prince George's County, Maryland, that connects the White House and the United States Capitol and then crosses the city to Maryland. In Maryland it is also Maryland Route 4 (MD 4) ...
building is dedicated to
international trade
International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories because there is a need or want of goods or services. (see: World economy)
In most countries, such trade represents a significant ...
and global relations. Organizations headquartered in this building include
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is the country's primary border control organization, charged with regulating and facilit ...
(CBP),
U.S. Agency for International Development
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 ...
(AID), and the
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (or Wilson Center) is a quasi-government entity and think tank which conducts research to inform public policy. Located in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washi ...
. The first private sector lease was signed with investment banking firm
Quarterdeck Investment Partners, Inc. The building hosts conferences, trade shows, cultural events, and outdoor concerts.
Post-9/11
The post-9/11 period is the time after the September 11 attacks, characterized by heightened suspicion of non-Americans in the United States, increased government efforts to address terrorism, and a more aggressive American foreign policy.
Pol ...
, security requirements for high-profile federal buildings have limited the amount of public/private access anticipated by the center's designers.
History
Context
![13th & C Sts](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/13th_%26_C_Sts.%2C_NW_%28demolished%29_%284476082113%29_%283%29.jpg)
The building is located near the
Federal Triangle Station
Federal Triangle is an island-platformed Washington Metro station in Washington, D.C., United States. The station was opened on July 1, 1977, and is operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). Providing service for ...
in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, an area once heavily populated with saloons and
brothel
A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...
s. The federal government purchased the land in the 1920s, and it was to be part of the Federal Triangle redevelopment of the late 1920s and 1930s. Until development on the current building began, the area known as the "Great Plaza" was used as a massive downtown parking lot.
In the 1960s and 1970s, efforts were under way to "finish" Federal Triangle by building a large office building on the site of the parking lot. The first effort came in 1972, when the
Nixon administration
Richard Nixon's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 37th president of the United States began with First inauguration of Richard Nixon, his first inauguration on January 20, 1969, and ended when he resigned on August 9, 1974 ...
proposed building a $126 million office building on the lot in time for the national bicentennial in 1976. But this proposal was never seriously contemplated or funded. One outcome of the Nixon proposal was "the Weese Plan." The Nixon administration commissioned the architecture planning firm of
Harry Weese & Associates to come up with a master plan for the continued development of Federal Triangle.
[Forgey, Benjamin. "Square Deal for Federal Triangle." ''Washington Post.'' May 24, 1998.] The Master Plan (which became known as the Weese Plan) not only proposed a massive new federal office building on the parking lots of the Triangle. It also proposed a new series of pedestrian paths throughout the complex, titled "Federal Walk."
Federal Walk would not only be a network of sidewalks designed to showcase the architecture of Federal Triangle; it also included destinations such as spots for tourists to wait for tours of the interiors of each building, outdoor art, places for rest and contemplation, and even cafes and restaurants.
Federal Walk was gradually implemented in piecemeal fashion over the next 15 years, although it still remained incomplete as of 1997.
The
General Services Administration
The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. gover ...
(GSA) held a competition in 1982 to select a design for a 10-story office building to replace the parking lot, but planning bodies refused to approve the plan.
Plans for construction of an office building on the Federal Triangle parking lot site found support in 1986. The
Federal City Council
Federal City Council is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that promotes economic development in the city of Washington, D.C., in the United States. Incorporated on September 13, 1954, it is one of the most powerful private groups in the city, a ...
, a private civic organization which had been promoting the construction of a $200 million international trade center in the District of Columbia, advocated construction of its proposed building at Federal Triangle.
Reagan administration
Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following a landslide victory over D ...
officials favored the plan, and in October 1986 the proposal received the backing of the GSA. The idea received support from
Democrats in Congress as well, especially from Senator
Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Daniel Patrick Moynihan (March 16, 1927 – March 26, 2003) was an American politician, diplomat and sociologist. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented New York in the United States Senate from 1977 until 2001 and served as an ...
, a former Kennedy administration aide who had long championed completion of the Federal Triangle. There was some opposition to the idea from planning officials and others, who were dismayed at the loss of parking in the downtown area and who feared that the trade center's proposed 1,300 to 2,600 underground parking slots would not be built due to poor soil conditions. A bill was passed (almost unanimously) by Congress on August 7, 1987, to provide $362 million for the construction of an "International Cultural and Trade Center" on the parking lot at Federal Triangle.
[Havemann, Judith. "Completion of Federal Triangle Voted." ''Washington Post.'' August 8, 1987.] The plan was to provide office space for both the Justice and
State
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
departments.
The legislation also provided that although the U.S. government would finance the building, a private developer would construct it.
The federal government would lease space from the private developer for 30 years, after which ownership of the building would revert to the government.
The bill also required the building to be financially self-supporting within two years of its completion.
The rental prices throughout the lease's term would remain stable.
It was only the fifth time the government had signed a "lease-to-own" agreement.
With of office space and of space for trade center activities, the planned trade center would be larger than any other federally owned building except for
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...
.
The bill also required that the trade center be "designed in harmony with historical and government buildings in the vicinity, ... reflect the symbolic importance and historic character of Pennsylvania Avenue and the Nation's Capital, and ... represent the dignity and stability of the Federal Government."
[McPherson, Harry. "A Winner On the Avenue." ''Washington Post.'' August 21, 1987.] A nine-member panel was established to approve any plans, and included the Secretaries of State,
Agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
, and Commerce; the
Mayor of the District of Columbia
The mayor of the District of Columbia is the head of the executive branch of the government of the District of Columbia, in the United States. The mayor has the duty to enforce district laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed ...
; and five members of the public.
["Five Named to Panel On Cultural Center." ''Washington Post.'' April 7, 1988.] The building was expected to be completed in 1992.
President Reagan signed the ''Federal Triangle Development Act'' into law on August 22, 1987.
Design and construction
![Ronald Reagan Bld](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Ronald_Reagan_Bld.jpg)
Preliminary design specifications required that the final building be no taller than the existing Federal Triangle structures, be constructed of similar materials, emphasize pedestrian traffic, and have a "sympathetic" architectural style.
[Forgey, Benjamin. "Energizing the Great Plaza." ''Washington Post.'' April 18, 1987.] An architectural model by the firms of
Notter Finegold & Alexander, Mariani & Associates, and Bryant & Bryant depicted a building with a long, uninterrupted facade along 14th Street NW and two colonnaded hemicycles on the east side (matching the Post Office Department building's hemicycle).
The preliminary design specs were criticized for not more clearly specifying the architectural style,
for bringing another 10,000 new workers to Federal Triangle each day, and for reducing the required number of parking spaces by 30 percent to just 1,300. The five public members of the design committee were named on April 6, 1988, and were former Senator
Charles H. Percy
Charles Harting Percy (September 27, 1919 – September 17, 2011) was an American businessman and politician. He was president of the Bell & Howell Corporation from 1949 to 1964, and served as a Republican U.S. senator from Illinois from 1967 ...
, chair;
Harry McPherson
Harry Cummings McPherson Jr. (August 22, 1929 – February 16, 2012) served as counsel and special counsel to President of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson from 1965 to 1969 and was Johnson's chief speechwriter from 1966 to 1969. McPherson's ...
, president of the Federal City Council; Donald A. Brown, chair of the Federal City Council's International Center Task Force; Michael R. Garder, a member of the
Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation
Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site is a National Historic Site in the city of Washington, D.C. Established on September 30, 1965, the site is roughly bounded by Constitution Avenue, 15th Street NW, F Street NW, and 3rd Street NW. The his ...
; and Judah C. Sommer, a local attorney.
Groundbreaking on the now-$350 million building was scheduled for 1989, and completion in 1993.
Disagreements broke out in mid-1988 over which federal agencies should take up residence in the structure, and whether they should be trade- or foreign-policy related. Seven designs were submitted in June 1989, each incorporating a base-middle-crown structure and enclosed in traditional materials (limestone facade, vertical glass windows, terra-cotta roof tiles).
[Forgey, Benjamin. "Competing to Complete the Triangle." ''Washington Post.'' June 10, 1989.] Each design incorporated a new home for the
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (or Wilson Center) is a quasi-government entity and think tank which conducts research to inform public policy. Located in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washi ...
(a
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
entity), an outdoor memorial to President
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
, and exhibition and retail space.
Construction began in mid-1989. Contractors estimated the cost of the building at between $550 million and $800 million, far higher than the anticipated $350 million original price tag. The design committee picked the $738.3 million design submitted by
Pei Cobb Freed & Partners
Pei Cobb Freed & Partners is an American architecture, architectural firm based in New York City, founded in 1955 by I. M. Pei and other associates. in October 1989.
A consortium led by New York developer
William Zeckendorf Jr.
William Zeckendorf Jr. (October 31, 1929 – February 12, 2014) was an American real estate developer. Son of William Zeckendorf Sr., he was the second of three generations of one of New York's great real estate dynasties. While keeping a lower pr ...
and
Larry Silverstein
Larry A. Silverstein (born May 30, 1931) is an American businessman. Among his real estate projects, he is the developer of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City, as well as one of New York's tallest resident ...
was chosen to build and operate the building and lease it to the government.
One of the firms which had lost this contract subsequently challenged the bidding process.
Cancellation, completion and opening
Significant cost increases led to the project being mothballed by the
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
administration. The GSA refused to sign the draft lease, arguing that the building's rental costs were too high and would cost (rather than save) the government $18 million to $24 million a year.
[Hilzenrath, David S. "Ballooning Costs Delay Federal Triangle Project." ''Washington Post.'' July 20, 1990.] Although Pei Cobb Freed agreed to investigate design changes to make the project less costly, at least one member of Congress declared the project dead.
In September 1990, the architectural team made changes which cut $82 million from the cost of the building (including the elimination of two theaters, scaling down the reception hall, using plaster rather than stone, substituting aluminum for bronze in the trim, and reducing the size of interior doors), reducing the price tag to $656 million.
[Hilzenrath, David S. "$656 Million Building Set for Federal Triangle." ''Washington Post.'' September 22, 1990.] Delta Partnership, a development consortium led by New York developer William Zeckendorf Jr., was chosen to operate the building and lease it to the government.
Another design change came in January 1991, when the number of parking spaces rose by 12.6 percent to 2,500 spaces. But the changes did not resolve the controversies enveloping the project. Design committee member Donald A. Brown quit the committee in late 1991, complaining that the Bush administration was meddling in the project's design. Two days later,
Eleanor Holmes Norton
Eleanor Holmes Norton (born June 13, 1937) is an American lawyer and politician serving as a delegate to the United States House of Representatives, representing the District of Columbia since 1991. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
Earl ...
, D.C.'s delegate to Congress, repeated these charges. On January 19, 1992, even as the foundation for the trade center was being dug, the GSA said the building would not achieve financial self-sufficiency. A separate report commissioned by the Bush administration reached similar conclusions.
[Spolar, Christine. "White House Scraps D.C. Trade Center." ''Washington Post.'' January 26, 1992.] On January 25, 1992, the Bush administration cancelled the international trade center construction project.
Days later, a
United States district court
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...
ruled that Delta Partnership had been chosen in violation of federal contracting guidelines, although the court also refused to overturn the award after finding no bias in the award process. Construction experts decried the decision, saying that the building's costs could balloon to more than $1.2 billion if construction were resumed at a later time.
The decision to cancel the building was reversed on December 2, 1993, by the
Clinton administration
Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following a decisive election victory over Re ...
.
[Hamilton, Martha M. and Grimsley, Kirstin Downey. "International Trade Center Plan Revived." ''Washington Post.'' December 3, 1993.] Although the building was originally designed to be a major tourist destination and provide a boost to economic development in the downtown area, the building was repurposed to be a simple office building.
Rather than a mix of federal and private renters, federal agencies were now scheduled to occupy 80 percent of the office space.
[Duggan, Paul. "Progress on a Massive Scale." ''Washington Post.'' September 17, 1995.] By January 1995, the structure was two years behind schedule. By September 1995, a tentative occupancy date of December 1996 had been set.
The building was named for former President Ronald Reagan in October 1995. There were still occasional design glitches. For example, the GSA approved two major sculptures for the Woodrow Wilson Plaza in 1994, abruptly ordered a halt to work on the sculptures in June 1996, and then ordered work to proceed again in July 1996. Construction slipped further, and by January 1997 occupancy was scheduled for the following summer. Construction continued to fall behind schedule, with completion not expected until summer 1998.
[Behr, Peter and Lelen, Kenneth. "Reagan Building Nears Its Debut." ''Washington Post.'' June 5, 1997.] Nonetheless, federal officials planned to move more than 480
Environmental Protection Agency
A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...
(EPA) employees into the building in July 1997.
By this time, security concerns had led to several additional design changes (including a reduction in the number of parking spaces to just 1,900), and the cost of the structure had risen to $738 million.
The Ronald Reagan Building opened on May 5, 1998.
President Bill Clinton and former First Lady
Nancy Reagan
Nancy Davis Reagan (; born Anne Frances Robbins; July 6, 1921 – March 6, 2016) was an American film actress and First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989. She was the second wife of president Ronald Reagan.
Reagan was born in N ...
dedicated the building.
[Montgomery, David and Wheeler, Linda. "A Soaring Reagan Tribute." ''Washington Post.'' May 6, 1998.] Three large pieces of artwork were included in the building. The first, by sculptor and D.C. native Stephen Robin, is a gigantic rose with stem and a lily, both made out of cast aluminum and lying on stone pedestals.
[Forgey, Benjamin. "The Capstone of the Federal Triangle." ''Washington Post.'' April 25, 1998.] The second, by
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
D.C. native
Martin Puryear, is a
Minimalist
In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Don ...
tower of brown welded metal titled "Bearing Witness" which stands in Woodrow Wilson Plaza.
The third, located inside the building's atrium, is a multi-story neon installation by
Keith Sonnier
Keith Sonnier (July 31, 1941 – July 18, 2020) was a postminimalist sculptor, performance artist, video and light artist. Sonnier was one of the first artists to use light in sculpture in the 1960s. With his use of neon in combination with epheme ...
titled "Route Zenith."
The structure's final cost was $818 million.
In early 2015, the GSA announced that the interior spaces of the Reagan Building had "reached the anticipated end of life cycle in nearly all areas of finishes, carpets, furniture, fixtures and equipment", and it began seeking contractors to extensively renovate the structure.
Occupants
In addition to CBP, AID and the Wilson Center, other federal agencies with offices in the building include the
Department of Commerce
The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for bu ...
, EPA and GSA. Other tenants include the
National Children's Museum
The National Children's Museum is a children's museum and Science museum#Science centre, science center in downtown Washington, D.C. It is intended to serve children up to age 12 and their families through interactive exhibits exploring science, t ...
, several retail shops and various commercial and nonprofit organizations.
Events
The conference center hosts over 1,200 events each year, including many of Washington's annual social galas such as the
Washington International Trade Association
The Washington International Trade Association (WITA) is an organization that hosts forums for discussing issues of international trade in the United States. The meetings hosted by WITA have been used by members of Congress to discuss their goals ...
's Annual Dinner, and formerly including the
Conservative Political Action Conference
The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC; ) is an annual political conference attended by conservative activists and elected officials from across the United States and beyond. CPAC is hosted by the American Conservative Union (ACU). ...
. The International Trade Center offers two large ballrooms, exhibition space, pre-function space, and other reception spaces. The outdoor, four-acre Woodrow Wilson Plaza is also used in special events and galas.
With the city's largest parking garage, information center, and a Washington Metro station, the building is visited by over one million tourists each year. The summer concert series held on the Woodrow Wilson Plaza and the many food options draw many to the building during the lunch hour. The National Children's Museum opened in the building on February 24, 2020.
Gallery
File:CommonArea ReaganBldg DC.jpg, Atrium
File:LobbyReaganBldg.jpg, Lobby
File:TetrahedralSkylight,ReaganBldg.jpg, Tetrahedral skylight
File:Eateries and diner, Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center.jpg, Food court with diner
File:Ronald Reagan Building, under construction in the 1990s in Washington, D.C..jpg, Under construction
File:Ronald Reagan Building, Washington, D.C., draped in black and displaying the former president's photograph shortly after he died on June 5, 2004.jpg, With black drapes and photographs following Reagan's death in 2004
File:Berlin Wall Segment at Ronald Reagan Building 2010.jpg, The building houses a segment of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...
.
See also
*
List of convention centers in the United States
This is a list of convention centers in the United States by state or insular area.
By state Alabama
*Bald Rock Lodge ( Cheaha State Park)
*Bessemer Civic Center
*Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex
*Bryant Convention Center (Tuscaloos ...
*
List of world trade centers
A World Trade Center (also World Trade Centre or WTC) is a building or complex of buildings used for the promotion and expansion of trade and licensed to use the "World Trade Center" name by the World Trade Centers Association (WTCA). As of May 2 ...
*
World Trade Centers Association
The World Trade Centers Association (WTCA) was founded in 1970 by Port Authority executive Guy F. Tozzoli. WTCA is a not-for-profit, non-political association dedicated to the establishment and operation of World Trade Centers (WTCs) as instrument ...
*
Architecture of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, has a unique and diverse architectural history. Encompassing government, monumental, commercial, and residential buildings, D.C. is home to some of the country's most famous and popular structur ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ronald Reagan Building And International Trade Center
Buildings of the United States government in Washington, D.C.
Federal Triangle
Office buildings in Washington, D.C.
Convention centers in Washington, D.C.
World Trade Centers
Landmarks in Washington, D.C.
Monuments and memorials to Ronald Reagan
Government buildings completed in 1998
Office buildings completed in 1998
1990s architecture in the United States
James Ingo Freed buildings
New Classical architecture
Neoclassical architecture in Washington, D.C.
Limestone buildings in the United States
1998 establishments in Washington, D.C.