National Archives Plans Moves, Upgrades for Regional Facilities

Adrienne Thomas, Acting Archivist of the U.S.

This spring, the National Archives at Kansas City officially opened its new quarters in the heart of downtown Kansas City’s cultural, retail, and historic district. This was a big step. For years, this regional archive was located in an aging General Services Administration (GSA) building far from downtown and difficult for the public to access. The move was just the latest in a series of moves involving eight of our regional archives to new locations within their respective regions. They are part of a comprehensive program we undertook recently to improve the facilities of our network of thirteen regional archives, primarily to meet our archival records preservations standards. None of the thirteen regional archives are closing.

Some moves are necessary because the current facilities cannot be upgraded to meet NARA’s records storage standards. In the cases of four facilities, we are renovating and upgrading them to meet the standards; they are Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and Seattle. Most work will be completed by the end of 2010. The Southeast Regional Archives in Atlanta occupies a new building that is only five years old. Here is the status of the eight planned moves:

New York City

We are considering moving from the Varick Street federal office building to the Customs House, a federal building in lower Manhattan that also houses the Smithsonian American Indian Museum, which draws 300,000 visitors annually, and is centrally located near the Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty ferry landings. A feasibility study is currently underway.

Because of the high cost of archival storage in Manhattan, we plan to move eighty percent of New York City holdings to our Federal Records Center (FRC) in northeast Philadelphia in a new archival bay. The most heavily used records and significant “treasures” from the holdings will remain in New York.

No existing staff will be relocated. In the future, depending on visitor numbers, it is possible that positions will be reassigned when vacancies occur.

Philadelphia

As is the case in New York City, we plan to move eighty percent of holdings from the current Market Street facility to the FRC in northeast Philadelphia. The Center City location is five blocks from Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.

St. Louis

Working with GSA, we have signed a lease for a new, shared FRC and Archives building in St. Louis, about ten miles from the current location of the Military Personnel Records Center. The St. Louis facility houses the National Personnel Records Center. Construction will begin this spring, with initial occupancy in late 2010, and completion of the move of all records in 2012. This building will replace an aging structure that was built around 1950 and renovated after a disastrous fire in 1973.

Kansas City

GSA ended our lease at the aging Bannister Road federal depot, and we have moved to the new leased facility in downtown Kansas City. Half of the regional holdings will be stored in NARA’s nearby FRC in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, while the remaining records have been moved to the new downtown facility.

Fort Worth

Also at GSA direction, we must leave the deteriorating federal office depot, which is being closed. We are moving the holdings and textual research operations to NARA’s new FRC in Fort Worth, about five miles from the old depot. We have also leased education program meeting space near the city’s cultural district. Moves will be completed in 2009.

Denver

We are leaving a deteriorating building on the federal campus in Lakewood. We are working with GSA to procure new leased space in the greater Denver metropolitan area for a joint FRC and Archives building. Move completion is expected by end of 2010.

Laguna Niguel, California

We are moving out of the massive Chet Holifield federal office building, which formerly housed both the FRC and the archives, as well as many other federal agencies. The Holifield building cannot be renovated to meet standards. In addition, visitorship and usage is low and does not justify the very high rent. Therefore, the archives will rejoin the FRC at its new facility in Riverside, which is about fifty miles from Laguna Niguel. The move is expected to be complete by spring 2010. As was the case when the FRC moved, Laguna Niguel staff whose commute is significantly increased will be offered relocation expenses.

Anchorage

The planned move to a new government-owned site is on hold pending the availability of funding for a new or leased building. Meanwhile, the archives remain at a leased federal office building in downtown Anchorage. Steps have been taken to improve environmental conditions at the old facility, but it does not fully meet the standards.

Wherever possible in these moves, we are also improving public spaces for research, access, and education programs. The improvements include converting obsolete microfilm research spaces to computer research stations. This change reflects an eighty percent decrease in microfilm use and a growing use of electronic records and indexes.

Ensuring that these records are properly preserved and making it as easy as possible for the public to access and use them is of paramount importance to NARA, and we believe these moves will help us in this important mission.