The Pentagon Renovation Program (PENREN) was a long-term project by the United States Department of Defense to perform a complete slab-to-slab renovation of the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The program began in the 1990s, and was completed in June 2011.
The full-scale renovation became necessary because by the mid-1990s, the Pentagon had never undergone a major renovation and building systems had deteriorated beyond repair, requiring complete replacement. Asbestos throughout the building made almost any building work complex and disruptive.
The Defense Authorization Act of 1991 transferred control of the Pentagon Reservation from the General Services Administration to the Department of Defense, and established the Pentagon Reservation Maintenance Revolving Fund, designed to fund Pentagon renovations. This move enabled the Secretary of Defense to determine rental rates for Pentagon tenants to help fund the renovation.
Projects
Information technology
The basic information system infrastructure in the Pentagon was installed long before the advent of personal computers, fax machines, video teleconferencing, and digital telephone service, and had evolved without a design plan. In 1943, when the Pentagon was built, there was one telephone for every three employees. Over the following years, new information technology capabilities had emerged and new systems had been laid on top of the old. Over time, this merging of technology had become unmanageable and not easily upgraded. As requirements emerged, facilities and systems were added with little or no regard to existing capabilities or long-term requirements. The individual military departments and agencies engineered and installed equipment and cables to meet their immediate specific needs.
The renovated Pentagon contains over of cabling, more than 100,000 voice, data, and video drops, 50,000 data faceplates, and 16 consolidated server rooms, down from 70 server rooms before.
Metro entrance facility
When the Washington Metro's Pentagon station originally opened, access to the Pentagon from the station was gained through a direct underground entrance. An outdoor bus station also existed at the station's street entrance.
As part of the renovation, vehicular traffic was moved further away from the building itself, and the direct entrance from the Metro station was eliminated in order to enhance security. This involved constructing a new dual-level bus station beyond the original bus station, and constructing a new Metro entrance facility. The new entrance facility is accessed from street level, with a covered path leading from the bus station past the Metro station entrance to the Pentagon itself.
In addition, the opening of the bus facility marked the return of bus traffic to the Pentagon, after having been moved to the Pentagon City station due to security changes made following the attack on the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.
Navy build-out 2A1
The Navy Build-Out project is located in the basement of Wedge 4 and consists of approximately of occupiable space. Demolition and abatement of this space was completed in November 2001. The build-out contract was awarded in September 2001 and construction began in early November 2001. The contractor designed and constructed office space, conference/training rooms, and supporting spaces including mechanical rooms, telephone closets, electrical closets, bathrooms, equipment rooms, etc. to house the Navy.
In order to fulfill the new structural requirements of the renovation design over 200 helical screwed piles were installed through the existing slab on grade to support a new floor slab. The original completion date was set as March 2003, with tenant move in scheduled for April 2003. The project was completed in June 2003.
Pentagon Athletic Center
The original facility, the Pentagon Officers Athletic Club was located east of the Pentagon on the opposite side of the abandoned railroad track. It had never undergone a physical renovation. PAC management made it a point to keep the facility updated with modern equipment. However, the projected increase in usage would soon exceed the amount of space available. The replacement PAC is located on the north side of the Pentagon next to the Remote Delivery Facility and new helipad and is more than 50% larger, and accommodates 8,000 members per day, compared to the 2,000 members per day supported by the POAC. The additional space increased the facility's capacity to bring in more workout equipment, allow for more varied exercise areas and rooms, and help to reduce crowded conditions during peak hours.