John McShain; Developer Who Built Pentagon

John McShain, the developer, hotel magnate and contractor who built some of the most significant public buildings in the country including the Pentagon, the State Department Building and the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, has died of a stroke at his retirement estate in Killarney, Ireland.

He was 90 when he died Sept. 9, it was learned this week.

His company, John McShain Inc., one of the largest construction firms in the United States in the 1940s, was headquartered in Philadelphia where he built the Philadelphia International Airport, the Naval Hospital, state and municipal buildings, a Holiday Inn and many churches and college facilities. Better known to visitors may be the Barclay Hotel where he also lived until retiring in 1978.

Although a lifelong Republican, he was invited by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 to build the Roosevelt Library in Hyde Park, N.Y.

He also worked on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and helped renovate the White House during the Administration of Harry S. Truman.

Late in life, McShain began racing thoroughbreds in various tracks in the United States and Europe. Among the horses he produced through his Barclay Stables was Ballymoss, Europe’s champion horse of 1958, which won the Irish Derby and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, France’s premier race. His filly Gladness won the Ascot Gold Cup in England that same year.

Survivors include his wife and a daughter.