DENVER—The new home of the FBI’s Denver field office features a lobby with bomb proof glass, fencing strong enough to stop a moving truck and pillars designed to withstand a bomb blast.
The 4-story glass tower dedicated during a ceremony Wednesday offers simpler perks for agents and the public. The bomb squad can now work out of its own room, rather than in a closet as it did when the agency was in a federal building downtown.
There’s separate interview rooms for crime victims, with more cozy furniture than in the ones used to interrogate suspects. The building also has plenty of parking; agents had to run three blocks from the older building to get to some vehicles.
The new building was constructed on 10 acres of what used to be the tarmac of Denver’s old Stapleton airport, tucked between a shopping center and a new residential neighborhood.
FBI executive assistant director Thomas Harrington said the Denver division, which handles investigations for both Colorado and Wyoming, has needed a new office since at least 1984 when he started his career there. He recalled having his office moved into a closet and carpet that looked like it came from a Las Vegas casino.
Besides the pleasure of working in a spacious office with views of the Rocky Mountains, Harrington said bringing different departments—from evidence experts to the joint terrorism task force—under one roof would help the agency do its job better.
“Even in the Rockies, threats loom large as evidenced by recent events,” he said. In the last year, the office handled the investigation of Najibullah Zazi, the Denver-area airport shuttle driver who pleaded guilty in February in a plot to bomb New York subway.
Harrington said all of the FBI’s 56 national field offices are on the look out for similar, smaller terrorist plots in their territories.
The $100 million building was constructed especially for the FBI but it will continue to be owned by the developer, Alex S. Palmer & Co. The federal government holds a 20-year lease and will pay about $17,000 in rent per day, adding up to about $6.1 million a year.
Special Agent in Charge James H. Davis said the building gives the agency room to expand and that he expects the lease will be renewed after the 20 years.
