Did you be intimate that the US government ’s third - orotund means is ramp up a 20 - twelvemonth , $ 4.5 billion building project that will turn the land of a former mental infirmary into an “ elaborate ” HQ for its straggle connection of agencies ? It ’s already a decade behind schedule and $ 1 billion over budget .
InBloomberg Businessweek , Devin Leonard describes his tour of the solid ground of St. Elizabeths Hospital in D.C. ( in the 1850s , it was bang as “ the Government Hospital for the Insane ” ) . The 176 - acre campus is scattered with abandoned building , some of which are wholly rotted out , since someone forget to turn the heat off when the last St. Elizabeths patients were relocated in the sixties .
It ’s here that DHS — a ramble internet of 22 different way , created in the aftermath of 9/11 — is building what it terms “ its own Pentagon . ” Indeed , the project is the turgid federal expression project in D.C. since the Pentagon was complete . But critics question whether St. Elizabeths ’ will unify DHS the same path a single , Pentagon - esque building could have . Then there ’s the sheer toll of catgut - renovating loads of turn - of - the - C buildings . fit in to Leonard :
[ projection manager ] Mills says that instead of seeking large sums of money for the military headquarters , DHS has resolve to require Congress for belittled amounts so the project can slowly but steadily move forrader . It has correct its schedule accordingly . The entire project , DHS now says , wo n’t be fill out until 2026 , a decade behind docket … There ’s no guarantee that the next leg of the project will be fully funded .
St. Elizabeths ’ first new tenant — the Coast Guard — will move in this August . But the future of the rest of the project remains uncertain . It ’s well-heeled to imagine the site turning into a half - consummate , Grey Gardens - esque metaphor for DHS itself .
Leonard , for his part , ca n’t stand firm make a few jokes about the similarities between St. Elizabeth ’s old and new inhabitants . “ [ It ’s ] more and more apparent that DHS ’s scheme to make its headquarters on the ground of a former genial hospital is inherently flawed , ” he writes . “ Some would say it ’s screwball . ” [ Bloomberg Businessweek ]
look-alike byTomf688 .
Imagevia . Lead image : Library of Congress .
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