Aging Pentagon Gets a $1.2-Billion Overhaul

In a blocked-off sector of the Pentagon, hidden from view, hordes of workers toil on a major Department of Defense initiative.

Is it a top-secret military operation? No.

The 56-year-old Pentagon is being renovated.

Before work began last year, no major renovations had been done on the Pentagon since it was completed in 16 months on Jan. 15, 1943. The building, a national landmark, is showing its age. Rusty water pipes occasionally burst. Old electrical wires fry and short-circuit. Lead-paint chips fall from windows. Asbestos tiles cover many floors.

“You name a safety code, the Pentagon doesn’t meet it,” said Tom Fontana, a spokesman for the Pentagon Renovation Program.

The renovation costs are expected to reach $1.2 billion. That tab could soar to $3.4 billion when the price of relocating employees and building temporary offices is added.

Everything--from the plumbing and air conditioning to the bathrooms and medical clinic--is being rebuilt, overhauled or rewired. The entire 29-acre building will be gutted and rebuilt from the basement up.

About 100 million pounds of debris will be removed.

“Nothing will remain but the skeleton of the building,” Fontana said.

Although its rapid construction was a marvel of the World War II era, the hasty work is partly to blame for the building’s problems. The work was done so quickly that many floor plans were lost in the rush.

Over the years, new electrical and computer wires were placed over old, resulting in confusing jumbles of cable spaghetti. As the number of employees grew to about 25,000, workers were crammed into basement offices and anywhere else space could be found.

Before work began, three other buildings were fixed up as temporary offices for the 5,000 workers who will be relocated during each renovation phase. High-security items were moved into new locations to allow national security operations to continue.

Army Col. Robert Kirsch, who heads the effort to overhaul the Pentagon’s telecommunications system, said extra work is being done so future projects will be easier.

“We want to make this work stand for the next 50 years,” Kirsch said.