Main Navy and Munitions Buildings

The Main Navy and Munitions Buildings were constructed in 1918 along Constitution Avenue (then known as B Street) on Washington, D.C.'s National Mall (Potomac Park), to provide temporary quarters for the United States Military. Both buildings were constructed by the Navy's Bureau of Yards and Docks, with the United States Department of War occupying the Munitions Building. To make the buildings more resistant to fire, the buildings were constructed using concrete. With solid construction, the temporary buildings remained in use long after the end of World War I.

In August 1939, the Secretary of War relocated his offices from the overcrowded State-War-Navy Building (Old Executive Office Building) to the Munitions Building. The Department of War headquarters remained in the Munitions Building, through the early years of World War II, until 1942, when some space became available in the Pentagon, which was under construction. The Munitions Building was turned over to the Navy in 1943, when the Department of War completely vacated the Munitions Building once construction of the Pentagon was completed.

Both buildings suffered serious structural problems in the 1960s. In December 1969, President Richard Nixon announced that both buildings would be demolished, a plan which was carried out in 1970. The land was then reclaimed and turned into Constitution Gardens, with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial built near the former Munitions Building site in the early 1980s.

Constructing the Munitions and Main Navy Buildings was an idea conceived by Franklin D. Roosevelt, then the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, who put forth the idea to President Woodrow Wilson. Roosevelt originally suggested a temporary building be placed on the Ellipse, but President Wilson disliked the idea of a building on the White House's front lawn. Thus, Roosevelt suggested placing the buildings on the National Mall (Potomac Park) along B Street (renamed Constitution Avenue in 1931), near the Lincoln Memorial. Roosevelt wanted them to be ugly wooden buildings, so that people would want to tear them down right away after World War I. However, to make the buildings more fire resistant, concrete and steel materials were recommended. Roosevelt later expressed regret for allowing these building to be constructed, saying in 1941, "I didn't think I would ever be let into the Gates of Heaven, because I had been responsible for desecrating the parks of Washington."

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