European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 19, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Could Cost $500 Milli plans to renovate the Pentagon by the associated press Aerial View of Pentagon where 24,000 military end civilian employees of the department of detente Worff. App How from the outside it still looks like a Blan but solid colossus perched on he Banks of he Potomac River overlooking he capita City. Inside however he Pentagon i showing the Wear and tear of decades. To  i Washington every work Day however 24,000 military and civilian employees of the department of defense report for duty inside its Walls. And it file the Pace stows alter Normal working hours in remains in use 24 hours a Day Avory Day. At a Cost that would make the original builders Blanche the general services administration has started la make life a Little More comfortable for those workers. But the work currently under Way. Gas officials say is merely the lip of an iceberg at some Point probably next year the Gas defense department and Congress Are going to face some Lough decisions. Construction and renovation projects inside the building Over the past two years have Cost almost �23 million and that does t count $4 million being spent this year Tore Mova old Asbestos insulation. Hallways in he building Are Lorn up Al the moment or the installation of a modern $4-million fire alarm system. When it was built 4vi decades ago. The building Cost $63 million. Ultimately a "1 of to Bottom renovation thai would tackle antiquated electrical and plumbing systems and bring office spaces up to modern standards could Cost $500 million. There s been no master renovation since the Pentagon was constructed says Dale Bruce a spokesman for he Gas. And that s what we have to consider now it was built very hastily. The systems Are old and getting older and our maintenance casts Are increasing every year. Renovation has just become an absolute  to say the building was constructed quickly particularly by today s standards is an . Prodded by the Start of world War ii the Federal government erected the five sided five Story Pentagon in just 16 months from August 1941 of january 1943. The War department Al the Lime had been spread among 17 different buildings throughout Washington and the Pentagon finally allowed consolidation. Thanks to round the clock shins during Tho War More than 40,000 people worked inside. Although it is one of the few buildings in the capital whose name has become Syno Cornous with the department the Pentagon s real claim to lame has always been its sheer size. The building is so huge that sections of it were occupied nine months before final construction was completed. Even its simple statistics Are staggering. Total land area 583 acres. Gross floor area 6.5 million plus Square feet. Corridor 17.5 Miles. Bathrooms 280. Drinking fountains 685. Clocks 4,200, parking spaces 10,000. The . Capitol could fit into one of its five wings. Today its very size is boosting the estimates Lor renovation at a Lime when the seemingly impossible has happened lne Pentagon is no longer big enough. At the same time it reviews plans Lor renovating the Pentagon itself the Gas has commissioned development of a master plan that envisions cons Duclion of Annex office buildings behind the Pentagon that would provide another 3 million Square Leet of space at an estimated Cost of $450 million. According to Bruce while that project faces Many key financial and environmental hurdles the government believes in could save More than Al 50 million a year in leasing costs alone. Today s crossword across 1 High suit card6 Warhol Forte 40 collections 42 rnll44 allows 46 do 13 hindu ii Shury incarnation h2 bullfighter 14 Small Pond the acrid15 Tell lairs b6 Dallas 16 fabric worker it humorist herb19 Horn 20 Golf stroke family s6 european capitalg7 Ballerina Painter 24 vast expanse 27 new zcalontier26 cheers bal Tom pcrlman32 in command 35 valley36 therefore 37 shred 38 historic time solution time s3 my. Hep Seq big Ara Asosa Down 21 hawaiian 1 Srur limlrumcnt2 Rory 23 do Newry 3 my aus 24 Islic 4 Stoj party 2s greek Ile Clr Vowel 6 Drill 26 in some6 Peel detail 7 Ramies 28 ate 8 chum 30 inventor9 not sailing Whitney 10 deserve 3 my Viper 11 Apple or 33 thai girl Pear 34 child 12 Yore 39 Annie 18 minimally hair director 41 bit of Parsley 42 All 43 single item41 com helpings 47 songstress Home 48 Energy urdu49uno,81 Seine summers3 be in the red bi33 hell Ytit Trutty a answer 8-19 0-19 the far Side this sled thought we was. A can wet ohls 30 minutes Hobbs Evab hex Vaju Getto no Kiwah in tit Ose re to Uhm Here s Cetoh brew. A. Ostbo. Wenj Stowe in a Hoffr Tetem oese nats with Towli parents away the Young dragon would Tay up Iota lighting Rahejr i Page 16 the stars and stripes saturday september 19. 19s7