page_title: Federal Triangle
section_title: Completion: Roosevelt administration
hierarchical_section_title: Federal Triangle / Construction of original seven buildings / Completion: Roosevelt administration
caption_attribution_description: English: Construction of the Apex building, the future home of the Federal Trade Commission, at the corner of B Street NW (later Constitution Avenue NW) and Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., in 1937.
context_page_description: The Federal Triangle is a triangular area in Washington, D.C. formed by 15th Street NW, Constitution Avenue NW, Pennsylvania Avenue NW, and E Street NW. Federal Triangle is occupied by 10 large city and federal office buildings, all of which are part of the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site. Seven of the buildings in Federal Triangle were built by the U.S. federal government in the early and mid-1930s as part of a coordinated construction plan that has been called "one of the greatest building projects ever undertaken" and all seven buildings are now designated as architecturally historic. The Federal Triangle Washington Metro station serves Federal Triangle and the surrounding area.
context_section_description: Only one building remained to be constructed under the new administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. By December 1933, the President was preparing his proposal to Congress for full funding of the Apex Building construction project. But the Apex Building itself almost was not built, as Pope and others argued that it tended to hide the planned National Archives building. Still others thought the site should be used for the proposed Jefferson Memorial. Through Roosevelt's personal intervention, the building was saved—but nearly all its external ornamentation was stripped, and plans for a terraced fountain nearby eliminated (although a small fountain was built in what eventually became known as Patrick Henry Park). Construction of the building was re-approved on January 18, 1934. The building's final cost was estimated at just over $12 million.
  In 1934, one building began construction and another finished. The Apex Building site began to be cleared in April. The Post Office building was occupied on May 6, and Postmaster General James Farley dedicated the Post Office Department building on June 11, 1934. Its final cost was $10.83 million, about half a million dollars over budget. Construction in the rest of the Triangle, however, seemed stalled.  Although some structures had been razed on the site, no appropriation had been made for the Apex Building. The government had also cleared land northeast of the Internal Revenue building (as planners considered adding yet another building to the Triangle), but Congress was increasingly opposed to demolishing either the Old Post Office or the District Building. City officials considered selling the District Building to the federal government as a means of raising cash to build a new city hall, but federal officials balked at the idea. President Roosevelt dedicated the newly opened Department of Justice building on October 25, 1934. Chief Justice Hughes, all the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court, Attorney General Homer Stille Cummings, and a large number of foreign ambassadors also attended the dedication. The $11 million structure had more than 550,000 square feet (51,200 square meters) of office space. By November 1934, the addition to the Internal Revenue building was nearing completion, and government officials were contemplating the razing of the District Building, Old Post Office Pavilion, and Southern Railway Building.
  The Labor/ICC and Archives buildings were opened in 1935. Numerous strikes (see below) had delayed the opening of the building for almost a year. In April 1934, Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins asked for additional (if minor) design changes. Pressing needs for office space meant that a portion of the ICC building was occupied before the structure was finished. Minor alterations were made to the Labor building (such as creating a private rather than shared bathroom for the female Secretary) in January 1935. Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins dedicated the two buildings at a ceremony in the Departmental Auditorium on February 26, 1935, attended by AFL President William Green. The Labor building's final cost was $4.5 million and the ICC portion of the structure cost $4.45 million. The two buildings were connected by the 2,000-seat Departmental Auditorium (renamed the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in 1987). Meanwhile, construction forged ahead on the Archives building. Already considered too small to hold all the materials in its possession, a proposal had been made to add another story to the building. This proposal was rejected in March 1935. The National Archives building was occupied in November 1935, but had no formal dedication. Although the Archives structure had been one of the top priorities of almost all planners, it was one of the last buildings to be opened. Archives staff began moving into the building in November 1935, and the exhibition rotunda was opened to the public in November 1936. Records were not transferred in large numbers to the building until April 1937.
  The Apex Building was the last to be constructed and dedicated. A major im
caption: Construction of the Apex Building in 1937
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