Douglas A. Munro Coast Guard Headquarters Building

The Douglas A. Munro Coast Guard Headquarters Building is the current headquarters of the United States Coast Guard and is located in Washington, D.C. on the west campus of the historic St. Elizabeths Hospital. The building is named in honor of Douglas Albert Munro and was completed in 2013.

Douglas A. Munro Coast Guard Headquarters Building
Building in 2015
Location within Washington, D.C.
Alternative namesUnited States Coast Guard Headquarters Building
General information
TypeGovernment office building
Address2703 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE, Washington, D.C.
Coordinates38.853095°N 77.002944°W / 38.853095; -77.002944
Construction started2009
CompletedJuly 29, 2013
Design and construction
Architecture firmPerkins and Will
HOK
WDG Architecture
Website
www.uscg.mil

History

Previous headquarters of the U.S. Coast Guard

By the time of its foundation in 1915, U.S. Coast Guard headquarters shared space with its parent agency, United States Department of Treasury. In the same year, the U.S. Coast Guard moved to Munsey Trust Building, which was home up until 1919. In 1921 Bond Building became new building for headquarters. By the 1930s, U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters units were split into three venues – Treasury Annex, the Wilkins Building and the Liberty Loan Building.[1]

In 1942, U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters consolidated those offices into the Southern Railway Building. Between 1963 and 1971 U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters units occupied 800 Independence Avenue Southwest along with Federal Aviation Agency.[2] In early 1960s and in early 1970s agency also occupied 1300 E Street Northwest.[3][4] In 1970 U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters moved into Nassif Building along with its new parent agency United States Department of Transportation.[1] Last building to be headquarters was Transpoint Building, leased by General Services Administration since 1979 from Laszlo N. Tauber & Associates, which constructed the building in 1973[5] (building also served as headquarters for Naval Sea Systems Command between 2013 and 2015).[6]

Initially, in the 1990s, U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters units planned to relocate to 1200 New Jersey Avenue Southeast along with the U.S. Department of Transportation, but as the U.S. Coast Guard was transferred to United States Department of Homeland Security, plans were scrapped.[7]

Construction and tenure
Construction of the U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters Building in 2010

In 2004, the Coast Guard began exploring its need for a new headquarters facility. The General Services Administration, the Office of Management and Budget, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security determined that it would be more cost-effective for the Coast Guard to move to a secure, federally owned site than to find a replacement lease for Transpoint Building.[8] By 2006, a new U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters Building on the campus of the historic St. Elizabeths Hospital was proposed in the 2006 federal budget,[9] although, construction of the building began in 2009 after receiving funding by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Budgeted at $646.2 million, it was the largest GSA project at the time.[10]

The building was officially opened on July 29, 2013. From August 2013 to November 2013, U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters units relocated to the new building.[11] Earlier in July 2013, An act to designate the Douglas A. Munro Coast Guard Headquarters Building was introduced and passed in the United States House of Representatives, officially naming the building the Douglas A. Munro Coast Guard Headquarters Building.

In autumn 2015, the Coast Guard's Marine Safety Center (MSC), Personnel Service Center (PSC), Hearing Office, Legal Division, National Pollution Funds Center, Recruiting Command, Marine Safety Center, and Base National Capital Region moved from various offices in Arlington County, Virginia to the Headquarters Building.[12][13]

References
  1. "Coast Guard Headquarters Ribbon Cutting: Remarks by the Commandant" (PDF). Washington, D.C. 29 July 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 August 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  2. U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters Organizational Manual CG-229-1 (PDF). Department of Transportation. 21 May 1971. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 September 2015.
  3. The Code of Federal Regulations of the United States of America. Washington. 1971. p. 627.
  4. Sinclair, David William (2006). "Scene 30". The Great Life I've Had! (PDF). pp. 194–196. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 September 2008.
  5. Kessler, Ronald (11 August 1978). "A Real Estate Success Story". The Washington Post.
  6. U.S. Navy (5 February 2015). "NAVSEA employees return to Navy Yard home". Washington, D.C.: Defense Visual Information Distribution Service. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  7. White, Suzanne (11 September 2003). "Jemal swoops in to buy Buzzard's Point building". Washington Business Journal. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  8. Carper, Thomas R., ed. (2014). "Security and Savings: The Importance of Consolidating the Department of Homeland Security's Headquarters at St. Elizabeths" (PDF). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. p. 5.
  9. Painter, William L. (11 September 2013). "DHS Headquarters Consolidation Project: Issues for Congress" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  10. "U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters". Clark Construction Group. Archived from the original on 14 March 2018.
  11. U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters (15 November 2013). "Coast Guard dedicates new home to WWII Medal of Honor recipient". U.S. Coast Guard Newsroom. U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Archived from the original on 25 August 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  12. "MSC Bulletin 01-15: Procedures for Submitting Plans and Supporting Information" (PDF). USCG Marine Safety Center. 30 October 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 August 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  13. "United States Coast Guard Personnel Service Center move to St. Elizabeth Campus". USCG Personnel Service Center. 12 January 2016. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
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