Evening star., 1953-08-13
(FirSt of a SerieSl


(FirSt of q SerieSl
ready the 140 Federal workers
have moved in, with piles upon
piles of the taxpayers property.
It is a vital factor in the Gov
ernment's space problem. For
the new building contains 1.25
million square feet of floor stor-
age capacity. It's use releases
space elsewhere. GSA is proud
that the move into the new
warehouse did not delay filling
orders for it's clients.
The warehouse will be a gi-
gantic stock room, from which
the General Services Admins
tration can issue property to
its cuStomers-the various Gov
ernment agencies. It, also will
house property of the Govern
ment Printing Office. And it
will likewise contain portion
Of the Federal Records Center,
embracing official documents.
Set in among the Fairfax
County pines, just east of the
Shirley Highway, the 81 million
structure. constructed by pri-
vate enterprise, will contain 49,
900 tons of Federal property.
GSA is renting the building
from it's owners, with long term
occupancy in prospect. But the
structure was really constructed
to meet Government needs.
Initial 5-Year Lease.
The Government has a five
year lease with the owners. with
an option of nine f1ve-year re-
neWals. So. Uncle Sam could
occupy it.for the next half CEN
tury-until the year 2003. And
the average rental over the life
of the lease is $710,500 annually,
officials explained.
The building now has about
$5.4 million worth of property
in storage. This consists Of
paints, paper, typewriters, furni-
ture, plumbing supplies, nuts,
bolts, screws, tools, fire hose,
lighting appliances, brushes and
a multitude of other articles.
One of the answers to recon-
mendations of the Hoover Com
mission, the new warehouse is
Streamlined and is considered
the last word in this type of
operation. 1t is designed to keep
it's employees from wasting time,
requires them to walk less and
get more production. For the
whole procedure is highly
mechanical. And it is a one
floor operation to save time and
space. Economy and efficiency
are it's watchwords.
There are two major time
savers in the enterprise. One is
a miniature railroad-they call
it a towveyor. BY a series of
automatically controlled moves,
merchandise can be moved from
place to place speedily. Ware
house trailers are thus easily
shifted with their cargoes. BY
setting a signal for a given area,
the conveyance can be made to
move, ring a bell when it reaches
it's destination and indicate to
the storekeeper to remove the
cargo aboard.
IntercOm System.
The other major time-saver is
the two-way inter-communica-
ton system, speeding issuing of
orders and information. The
entire plant is electrified. GSA's
Federal Supply Service will oper-
ate the warehouse.
1t will serve a far wider area
than the District. For it will be
the distributing headquarters for
Region 3 Of GSA. In this
capacity, it will send material
for Government use to Virginia,
Maryland and West Virginia. It
will cater to the Governments
civilian needs in this section of
the Nation. But IS per cent of
the issues will be in the Greater
Washington area; because of the
Federal concentration here.
Here are some of the top fea-
lures of this warehouse dream:
An electrical fire and burglary
detection system. This is sup
plemented by building guards
who are on duty on shifts around
the clock. The no smoking"
signs are predominant and dis
miSSal' notices face those who
violate this all-important order.
A water r-Sprinkler system also is
on guard against fire.
4. A fireproof room for the
stowage Of excelsior. used in