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<br /> A. 4~ ' WASHINGTON D . C .—M LJ ark Twain once called the Old Executive r° ± rr _ : {; ' :'
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<br /> Office Building , the regal Second Empire-style structure just steps IVA - - -- ]I ^�, , ; n_99 '
<br /> 9 away from the White House , Americas ugliest building . Even as At -
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<br /> recently as the Eisenhower administration , architects and politi- J -
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<br /> clans hated it . No matter : The. edifice , completed in 1888 , has out- h -
<br /> + � lasted its detractors and aged with grace . Stained -glass skylights
<br /> cast soft light down sweeping stairways , and tiled floors gleam . V To
<br /> � �- But look closer . Thick rolls of electrical wires snake out of dark +,
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<br /> holes ihlhe ceiling and slither around their fixtures . Cardboard cov-
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<br /> ers several transoms . A peek into an office reveals a creaky old 4
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<br /> portable air conditioner perched precariously on a window ledge .
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<br /> The day I visited , scaffolding dominated the antechamber of Mar- The 1888 Old mated in a similar report in 1991 .
<br /> tin Neal Bally , the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors . Executive Office " Every administration has been very cau -
<br /> Workers were plastering a wall after rainwater had leaked through . Building, above , and tious about going to Capitol H I I I and asking
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<br /> It is no surprise that the stately old building has needs . The Milwaukee's 1899 for money to fix up the Old Executive Office
<br /> R surprise is how many of those needs go unmet , despite a $ 26 Federal Building and Building , " explains Robert A . Peck , GSA ' s
<br /> million restoration effort due to be completed in 2002 , A General Courthouse public- buildings commissioner . " Everybody
<br /> Accounting Office report issued in March at the behest of a House is worried they ' ll be criticized for spending
<br /> subcommittee estimated that the building has a backlog of $ 187 too much money on their staff . "
<br /> ! million worth of repairs . The Old Executive Building, one of 1 , 682 As a result , GSA only spends enough money to keep the build ,,,
<br /> federally owned properties managed by the General Services ing safe and handle minor improvements . Major projects are post- j
<br /> Administration , is only the most expensive example of a larger poned routinely . And then postponed again .
<br /> problem . According to the same report , 903 of GSA ' s buildings Though government bean counters partially blame GSA for poor
<br /> have outstanding work orders . Seven of the 44 most needy struc- planning , Peck says , the larger issue is money . Annual appropri -
<br /> tures , including the Old Executive , are on the National Register of ation requests for repairs and alterations are regularly denied by l
<br /> Historic Places . The list is geographically diverse , including such the White House and Congress . " You can always get money to
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<br /> historic structures as Milwaukee ' s 1899 Federal Building and buy a new jet airplane , " Peck says , comparing his plight to that
<br /> Courthouse , the 1906 Moss Courthouse in Salt Lake City , and of his Pentagon counterparts , " but when they go back and say , ' We
<br /> the 1938 Bolling Federal Building in Kansas City , Mo . The report need spare parts for the old one , ' nobody ' s interested . "
<br /> states that the total price tag is $4 billion—the same figure esti - Once a foe of preservationists , GSA now embraces its older `
<br /> ; . - _ n � ,gin+ x _ p stock . One reason is Peck himself , a preservation advocate in
<br /> rjtIt } ; i D . C . long before he assumed his current position in 1995 .
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<br /> r , E � . : � r� .• Another is the administrations recent discovery , made during an
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<br /> nternal audit , that its historic properties , with their thick walls
<br /> ;'{ v4 and solid construction , are generally cheaper to maintain than
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<br /> as , some of the newer structures .
<br /> ► ` � : G Without a major congressional appropriation , the problem will
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<br /> likely only worsen as buildings continue to age . Peck estimates
<br /> that GSA' s own building , a 1917 historic landmark also in need
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<br /> of a cash infusion , has 15 years left before it becomes unfit for
<br /> tenants . What about the Old Executive Office Building? " Nobody
<br /> ' $ will ever move out , says Peck , citing the building ' s proximity to
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<br /> the White House . " People will work in that building until the roof
<br /> �- falls in on them . "
<br /> Ted Rose is a contributing editor of Brill 's Content,
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