Evening star., 1952-12-07
By ChurIes l. Hoffman

AA@o
the building expected to be under
roof within a month.
Moving day for most of the
county departments. however,
again has been moved back sew
eral months, with the building
expected to be ready for occu-
|pancy by May 80.
Members of the County Coun-
Gil on numerous occasions have
voiced concern over the repeated
delays in progress. They have
pointed with envy to the rapidity
with which some private business
structures such as the Fig Build
ing in Silver Spring have risen
At times councilmen have
quipped about the delays. Last
Tuesday one councilman who had
been looking at the building from
the present council chambers, sud-
denly interrupted the meeting
with the remark:
II thought you might be inter-
ested to know that I see a man
working on the third floor OF the
new building" ..-..
The stl ucture, when completed.
will be one of the largest local
government buildings in the East
ern United States. The floor space
will total 10000 square feet.
The county has available some
s1,793,777 for construction Of the
building. Already $856.626 has
been expended. with another
$780, 1921 still to be paid the Byrne
CONSTRUCTION Co., general con-
tractors. The additional $177,830
at the present time is not
obligated. according to Finance
Director Alex Hancock.
Delayed by Lack Of Steel.
i Unavailability of steel. due to
the Korean war, delayed con-
struction more than a year. The
steel arrived in early spring and
once the superstructure was
erected. actual work on the build
ing got under way in late May.
An open E-shaped building. the
main Office section to the right IS
seven stories high at one point
The Health and Welfare Center
on the left Is only three stories
tall.
Built chiefly of buff brick, the
building will be trimmed with
Indiana limestone. The main en-
trance way also will be of lime
stone.
!, The building was designed by
Ronald S. Senseman, whose
schools and churches are well
known in the Washington area
Mr.. Senseman drew the plans fo1
the Wheaton Junior-Senior High
School which is being built
for the county at cost OF $2.7
million. He also planned the
Eastern Suburban Junior High
School.
cost Hel0 DOWNs
Mr.. SenSeman says the Struc-
ture, although carrying some o1
the latest innovations in office
building construction. is being
built comparatively economically
He set the cost per cubic foot al
'$1.15. He said the average office
building cost rate is about SIPS
The floors of the main lobby
and of all elevator landings will
he of terrazzo to provide a hard
wearing surface. All other floors
will be of asphalt tile.
! The main foyer will have light
brown marble walls. An infor-
nation desk and pamphlet rack
will be located here. The building
has two elf-operating high-speed
elevators.
4 Design of the main Office wing
! was aimed at making the floor
plan as flexible as possible. All
partitions are made of metal and
are movable. The building has
continuous windows to avoid lin
iting the layout of rooms. Halls
are at a minimum with most floors
broken up into large department
layouts.
The wiring system is unique.
A complete under-f1oor conduit
system has been provided. This
| grid system permits the installa-
ton of electrical outlets and tele-
phone connections at any point
In room.
! Council chambers in the new
; building will be in the fifth-f1ool
;. penthouse. The council room will
be finished in a hardwood veneer
la press gallery and seating for
about 10 persons and a public ad-
dress system are included in the
/ plans.
To House Most Agencies.
The building will house under
one roof nearly all present county
agencies. Mr.. Senseman, in de-
signing the building, aimed al
providing space on the lower
floors for those departments most
visited by residents.
i The Police Department will have
Expansive quarters. with a sep
crate entrance on the ground
floor.
/ The first floor, to be entered
. through the main foyer. will have
the revenue and disbursements
office-where taxes are paid-and
offices of the division of inspec-
tionS and licenses.
;. On the second floor will be Of
. fees Of the county agricultural
: agent and other State and Fed
|eral farm Offices. Also on this
/ floor will be the finance depart
!, ment's main Office.
4 n