BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE

Preliminary design of permanent structures required to
carry out the objectives of the Comprehensive Plan was
completed following approval of the plan itself by the Na-
tional Capital Planning Commission and the Commission
of Fine Arts, November 1966. Four major buildings are re-
quired by the Plan: Visitors' Center and Parking Structure,
Memorial Chapel and Columbarium, Administration Build-
ing and the Service Building Complex. The final design
and construction of these permanent facilities will be
phased to accompany the redevelopment of land in the
South Post area as it becomes available for Cemetery use.
The functions of the permanent Visitors' Center and Park-
ing Structure have been discussed briefly in the preceding
section of the report. The importance that has been placed
upon this redevelopment of the approaches to the Ceme-
tery may be judged by the following excerpt from the No-
vember 21, 1966 report of the National Capital Planning
Commission.

The Commission commends the Department of the Army for
developing a Master Plan for Arlington National Cemetery which
resolves the difficult problem of accommodating tourists visiting
the Cemetery in a manner which minimizes conflict with the
formal use of the Cemetery for burial purposes, and which re-
turns to the historic emphasis on the Memorial Gate and Me-
morial Avenue with its formal relationship to the Mall, as the
entrance to Arlington National Cemetery.

The Commission believes that the construction of the proposed
parking structure and the removal of surface vehicular parking
from the Cemetery will greatly enhance the appearance of this
historic area, and therefore urges that the Department of the
Army and the Department of Defense give high priority to the
construction of the parking structure.

The location of the permanent Visitors' Center below the
plaza of the existing Memorial Gateway to Arlington Cem-
etery, and the construction of the associated parking facili-
ties below the adjoining road will subordinate these struc-
tures to the formal design of the ceremonial approaches
to the Cemetery.Landscape development at the ground level
will continue to follow the intent of the original McKim,
Mead and White design.

The separation of tourist and other traffic will occur at the
entrance to the Memorial Gate. Funeral processions and
automobiles bound for specific gravesites will be allowed
to proceed into the Cemetery proper. All other vehicles
will turn down ramps to parking levels below Memorial

Drive. Two levels are assigned to automobile parking with an intermediate high ceilinged area for buses. The design of the structure will allow pedestrians the option of proceeding under shelter to the Visitors' Center without crossing paths of vehicular traffic, or of ascending to the level of Memorial Drive. Some natural light is brought into the parking area through openings above the ramps and through stairways flanking Memorial Drive, but persons leaving their cars or buses will also be drawn toward the Visitors' Center by light flooding the area from a grand open stairway leading to the plaza within the Memorial Gate. Flanking this stair are facilities for tourist comfort and orientation; maps, displays and films that will inform and prepare visitors to experience the Cemetery in a proper attitude of respect and restraint. The Parking Structure will store 1050 cars and 77 buses, and with ramps and drives will total approximately 740,000 square feet in area. The Visitors' Center will house toilet facilities, information, exhibit and other visual interpretation areas, a total of about 42,000 square feet. The construction will be of reinforced architectural concrete with suitable interior finishes. Pending completion of the permanent facility, construction of a temporary visitors' center and surface parking area is to be undertaken. The building and its parking will be located to the south of Memorial Drive and east of the newlyaligned Arlington Ridge Road. Thus, in an interim period it will be able to fill the functions now envisaged for the permanent structure. Sited on the route now used for tourist traffic it will divert those buses and cars from the internal Cemetery roads. As a place of orientation it will be manned by guides from both the Park Service and the Cemetery. The plan of the parking area takes into consideration both future landscaping requirements and the location of the Administration Building, next phased in the Cemetery construction program. The Administration Building will thus share its function of separation of circulation patterns, with particular emphasis on easing the distress of the bereaved as they undertake ceremonies of burial. The Temporary Center and Parking Area, nonetheless, are not a part of the Cemetery as ultimately conceived. Besides occupying ground required for future interments, the form and the uses of the parking area tend to intrude upon the topography and landscape of Arlington. Limitations of

Proposed Administration Building

space prevent its being constructed to fully meet the peak
demands of tourist parking, and while desperately re-
quired to ease existing confusion and conflicts, its useful-
ness is directly related to its temporary aspect. The perma-
nent solution to circulation problems-the Visitors' Cen-
ter and Parking Structure, described previously, is intended
to supplant this facility as soon as possible. The Commis-
sion of Fine Arts sounded a note of caution on this subject
in their report of November 29, 1966. "In approving the
plans, we would like to emphasize that the Commission is
accepting the interim parking lot only as a temporary
measure and not 'temporary' in the usual sense of Wash-
ington usage. It cannot remain over any extensive period.
Every effort must be made to complete the permanent fa-
cility at the earliest possible time."

- The Administration Building, located along the funeral
procession road between the Memorial Gate and the
Chapel, will provide administrative offices for Arlington
Cemetery, reception and waiting rooms for funeral parties
and facilities for the Cemetery security guards. In designing
this building the dual functions of the Cemetery adminis-
tration have been considered-both as managers of a large
guard, maintenance and gardening force, and as official
representatives of Arlington to bereaved families and
friends comprising funeral parties. The function of locating
specific gravesites, a service granted visitors to the Ceme-
tery, is to be removed more appropriately to the Visitors'
Center. Thus, the Administration Building is divided into
public areas, with the requirement for a sense of repose
and tranquility, and functioning offices which, while sep-
arate, must be closely associated. The architectural device
for this separation-connection is a landscaped atrium
around which the program elements are disposed.

The upper floor provides an entrance vestibule with a
waiting area and two adjacent private waiting rooms for
the use of mourners awaiting the time of the funeral.
Across the back of the building and around an interior
courtyard are arranged the administrative offices of the
superintendent, his secretary and assistant, a conference
room, a general office, the interment section and offices
for a horticulturist and an engineer. Approximately 28 peo-
ple will work here.

In the basement there are facilities for approximately 30