Three New Stories for U.S. Embassy in Moscow Urged
More than five years after construction was halted for security reasons, the State Department asked for authority Thursday to build three new stories onto the bugged U.S. Embassy in Moscow to conduct classified diplomatic activities in the Soviet capital.
Undersecretary of State for Management Ivan Selin told a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee that the new plan, which he dubbed the “top hat,” is “an innovative solution” to the problem.
Selin said the new plan is to demolish the top floor of the unfinished eight-story building and add three new secure floors with U.S. materials, U.S. workers and U.S. supervision. The existing structure, built by Soviet workers under lax supervision, was found to be riddled with listening devices. Work there was halted in August, 1985.
The Bush Administration officially favors a complete tear down and replacement of the building at a cost of up to $300 million. Selin said, however, that Secretary of State James A. Baker III had accepted the new plan after it became evident Congress would not agree to fund the more extensive job.
The new plan would cost up to $200 million and take about two years to finish after construction begins, a State Department official said.
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