Home, Sweet, Homeland Security
John Hinckley slept here. Most people remember the psychiatric patient who shocked the nation when he shot President Reagan in 1981. So perhaps it's ironic that the nation's premier defender against terrorist acts, the Homeland Security Department, will be moving in. The National Capital Planning Commission has approved the final master plan for DHS' new headquarters at the site of the former Saint Elizabeths Hospital in Southeast Washington.
The blueprint for redeveloping the former psychiatric facility into a secure site includes 4.5 million square feet of office space and 1.5 million square feet of parking. The campus, expected to be complete in the next eight years, will be home to 14,000 of the department's 26,000 DHS employees, beginning with the U.S. Coast Guard. The Transportation Security Administration, Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency will follow in phases.
Saint Elizabeths, built in 1855, was the first federally operated institution for the mentally ill. The plan seeks to maintain the site's historic character and reuse many of the existing buildings. The planning commission's approval is contingent on several factors, such as construction of an access road by the General Services Administration.
- Elizabeth Newell
And a tune to go with this (thanks to Psychedelic Tourist) :
Metallica - Welcome home (Sanitarium)
[ many thanks to 'Evil T' ]
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