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Sara
Joined: 05 Sep 2008
Posts: 41
Location: USA
Fri Oct 03, 2008 9:11 pm |
 Post subject: U.S. to build new/more secure embassy in London |
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U.S. to build new, more secure embassy in London
Oct. 2, 2008
LONDON (AP) — The United States plans to sell its London embassy and build a greener and more secure facility on industrial land south of the river Thames, the U.S. ambassador to Britain said Thursday.
Ambassador Robert Tuttle said the State Department has agreed to buy a 5-acre site at Nine Elms in the Wandsworth area of south London and that the existing embassy building in central London will be put up for sale "almost immediately."
The existing embassy is in leafy Grosvenor Square in the Mayfair district — one of the most expensive in the capital. "This has been a long and careful process," Tuttle told reporters. "We looked at all our options, including renovation of our current building on Grosvenor Square. In the end, we realized that the goal of a modern, secure and environmentally sustainable embassy could best be met by constructing a new facility."
The State Department has been weighing whether to renovate the embassy, a modern concrete-and-glass building designed by Finnish-born architect Eero Saarinen, or whether to sell it and move to a new site in the suburbs.
The move will end more than 200 years of U.S. association with Grosvenor Square. Although the current building dates from the 1960s, the U.S. presence on the square goes back to the late 18th century, when future president John Adams was the first U.S. envoy to England.
U.S. Gen. Dwight Eisenhower had his headquarters on the square during World War II, when the area became known as "Little America."
The U.S. presence has not always been appreciated by the embassy's neighbors. Some have complained that the 600-room building is an eyesore on the square, especially since the introduction of concrete blast barriers and other security measures after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Last year, a residents' organization calling itself the Grosvenor Square Safety Group took out a two-page advertisement in The Times of London and The Washington Post complaining the presence of the embassy there put them at risk of terrorist attack.
The move requires approval from the U.S. Congress and local planning authorities and Tuttle said relocation was probably five years away.
The United States has been selling off embassies and other diplomatic buildings around the world as it consolidates diplomatic staff in more secure and modern compounds, often away from city centers.
A push to upgrade security began after the 1998 bombings of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed more than 200 people. The security effort took on new urgency after the Sept. 11 attacks, which led to government-wide vulnerability reviews.
Another U.S diplomatic building on Grosvenor Square, the Navy Annex, was put on the market last year for more than $180 million. |
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ranroz
Joined: 16 Sep 2008
Posts: 113
Sat Oct 04, 2008 11:03 am |
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I agree SARA if the USA needs a new Embassy in London and a lot more secure then they should have one.
I have to also agree with the build of a new one, all the security messeure's can be buit in and, Not be sutch a blot on the surrounding area.
Its the same her in Holland the US Embassy looks like a bunker NOW in the middle of the city. If all the sucurity was built in from new it would blend in a lot better. AS it looks so untidy Not what they had in mind when it was built.
Plus it can be built a lot greener than the old ones will ever be.
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