Letter
Dear Mr. Newton:
During its meeting of 18 November 2004, the Commission reviewed the Pentagon’s revised design for the new entrance pavilion to the library and conference center under the east end of the River Terrace; the new scheme was not approved. Previously, the members had recommended that the design of the security office and screening area on the side of the entrance pavilion be rethought to better integrate it with the overall design of the pavilion. Raising the cornice line above these side spaces to match that of the rest of the pavilion did not achieve the desired result. Moving the spaces back from the front face of the pavilion does provide some additional space on the walkway; however, this small portion of the building still looked to be an afterthought and detracted from the pavilion’s main entrance doors. Perhaps the best approach is to simply change the roof above the security office and screening area so that it is a sloping metal roof on what should appear to be a side porch. The sloping roof should meet the wall of the main block of the pavilion below its cornice line. This configuration has the added benefit in that it may provide additional separation if there is ever an event in which an explosion occurs in the screening area, leaving the main roof of the pavilion unaffected.
With these comments taken into consideration, the concept design for this facility should be modified and resubmitted when ready. Our next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday the 25th of January 2005, with a submission deadline on the 6th of January. As always, the staff is available should you require additional guidance.
Sincerely,
/s/ Frederick J. Lindstrom
Acting Secretary
Mr. Ralph Newton
Director, Defense Facilities Directorate
Pentagon Renovation and Construction Office
Department of Defense
Washington Headquarters Services
100 Boundary Channel Drive
Arlington, VA 22202-3712
cc: Michael R. Sullivan, Director, PENREN, DOD
Susan L. Kasun, PLC2 Design Manager, PENREN, DOD
Robert Osborne, BBGM