CORNERSTONE LAYING OF THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY BUILDING BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86M00886R000200080028-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 15, 2008
• Sequence Number: 28
• Publication Date: November 3, 1959
• Content Type: MISC

Approved For Release 2008/08/15: CIA-RDP86M00886R000200080028-5
ROUTING AND RECORD SHEET
SUBJECT: (Optional)
New Building Ground Breaking
FROM: EXTENSION
NO.
Harry E. Fitzwater
DDA 84-0028/34
Deputy Director for Administration
DATE STAT
7D 24 Hqs
L
22 March 1984
TO: (Officer designation, room number, and
DATE
building)
OFFICER'S
COMMENTS (Number each comment to show from whom
RECEIVED
FORWARDED
INITIALS
to whom. Draw a line across column after each comment.)
Director of Central
Bill
Intelligence
2 8
AR 1984
,
2.7D 5607 qs
As I mentioned to you several
months ago, and I believe you con-
curred, we should go with a ground
3.
breaking ceremony to be followed by
a cornerstone laying ceremony about
a year later.
4.
I have a group of people working
on:
5.
a. A proposed guest list;
6.
b. A proposed ceremony agenda
(who should get a shovel, etc.) ; and
7.
c. All of the details, i.e.,
security, press, employee control,
etc.
8.
I asked Public Affairs to arrang
for the President to attend. Since
9.
John will be away until 13 May, we
would ask that it be after that dat
but not be delayed longer than poss'
10.
We are planning to have a contract
signed by 15 April and want to star
work as soon as possible. I believ
11.
we can commence work and at a later
date have the official ground break'
but hope there is not too much dela
12.
At the current Headquarters Bull
Cornerstone Laying Ceremony, Presid
13.
Eisenhower was present--no o er
resi ent.
14.
STAT
15.
FORM 61O USE PREVIOUS
I-79 EDITIONS
le.
g
ing
it
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Cornerstone Laying
of the
Central Intelligence Agency
Building
by the
President of the United States
November 3, 1959
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DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
President of the United States
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ALLEN W. DULLES
Director, Central Intelligence
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CHARLES P. CABELL
Deputy Director, Central Intelligence
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Invocation
THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE BAND
Col. George S. Howard, Conductor
Arrival of the President of the United States
Remarks
Laying of the Cornerstone
Benediction
National Anthem
Program
REV. FREDERICK BROWN HARRIS
Chaplain of the U.S. Senate
THE DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
REV. FREDERICK BROWN HARRIS
THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE BAND
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 Approved For Release 2008/08/15: CIA-RDP86M00886R000200080028-5
The Building
The new eight-story building of the Central Intelligence Agency is being
constructed on a Government-owned tract of about 140 acres on the south
bank of the Potomac River not far from Langley, Virginia. The site is readily
accessible to Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Maryland. Access to the
grounds is from Virginia State Route 123 and the George Washington Me-
morial Parkway, which runs along the Virginia side of the Potomac. The
Parkway will later be extended to connect with the proposed Cabin John
Bridge on the Washington Circumferential Highway.
The building is being constructed approximately in the center of the site
and faces generally east. The building is simple and functional in the con-
temporarystyle, consisting of an irregularly shaped base surmounted by five
interconnected towers. When completed it will provide approximately one
million square feet of usable space. The building is being constructed of
reinforced concrete, and the predominantly white facade will be highlighted by
special treatment of the second and seventh floors. These floors will be set
back, and their exterior walls will consist of continuous glass windows.
Central air-conditioning and sixteen high-speed and self-operated automatic
elevators are to be provided for the comfort and convenience of employees of
the Agency. Since almost one-half of the space in the building is provided
by the ground and first floors, an escalator serving those floors is being installed
to facilitate the morning and evening rush. Rooms will be lighted by fluo-
rescent fixtures and will have acoustical ceilings and steel movable partitions.
The building will contain a modern automatic pneumatic tube system and
tray conveyor system.
The cafeteria will consist of a large main room and a smaller dining room
and will seat about 1,400 persons at one time. Snack bars will be located
throughout the building.
The auditorium will be a free-standing, dome-shaped structure connected to
the main building by an underground passage. It will seat 500 persons and
contain a small stage with a disappearing curved screen for film projection.
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Ample parking space will be available for 3,000 cars, and convenient
access to all facilities on the site will be provided by more than two miles of
roadways. Very little of the building will be visible from the public highways.
Architects for the building are Harrison & Abramovitz with Frederic R. King,
Associate Architect. The building is being erected by Charles H. Tompkins
Company and J. A. Jones Construction Company, Joint Venturers. The
Public Buildings Service of the General Services Administration is the contract
agent for the building and is supervising the work.
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The Cornerstone Box
In preparing for this Ceremony, a careful selection of documents and other
materials for sealing within the Cornerstone of the new Central Intelligence
Agency Building has been made. At some future date, when opened, the box
will provide items of historic interest concerning the Central Intelligence
Agency, and appropriate items in connection with today's Ceremony at which
the President of the United States honors us by laying the Cornerstone.
Contents of the Cornerstone box include:
1. Memorandum for President Franklin D. Roosevelt from Major General
William J. Donovan, Director of the Office of Strategic Services, dated 18
November 1944, regarding the establishment of a permanent centralized
intelligence service and Memorandum from President Roosevelt to Gen-
eral Donovan, dated 5 April 1944, directing that General Donovan
discuss his plan with the appropriate officials of the Government.
2. President Harry S. Truman's Executive Letter of 22 January 1946, estab-
lishing the National Intelligence Authority and the Central Intelligence
Group.
3. Statement of General (then Lieutenant General) Hoyt S. Vandenberg,
Director of Central Intelligence, before the Senate Committee on Armed
Services, on 29 April 1947, in support of the sections of the proposed
National Security Act of 1947 to establish the Central Intelligence
Agency.
4. A Text and Explanation of Statutes and Executive Orders relating spe-
cifically to the Central Intelligence Agency, including Enabling and
Appropriations Acts for the construction of the new CIA Building.
5. Reproduction of the CIA seal and its official description.
6. "William J. Donovan and the National Security." A speech by Allen W.
Dulles, Director of Central Intelligence, to the Erie County Bar Associa-
tion, Buffalo, New York, 4 May 1959.
7. An aerial photograph of the area of the CIA Building site.
8. Drawings of the CIA Building as it will appear when completed.
9. The Program, a recording, and photographs of the Cornerstone Ceremony.
10. Microfilm copies of daily and weekly newspapers of 3 November 1959.
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