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The directorate of the Federal Bureau of Investigation has announced a major move: the agency will permanently close its longtime main building and relocate personnel to already established facilities.

A New Chapter for the Top Law Enforcement Agency

According to a latest statement, the aging J. Edgar Hoover Building, a landmark in central Washington, will be decommissioned. The workforce will be based in current offices across the capital.

This strategic shift will see a number of personnel moving into offices within the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, which contained the offices of another government department.

“Following decades of unsuccessful plans, we put together a deal to forever shutter the FBI’s Hoover headquarters and move the workforce into a secure and contemporary building,” the announcement said.

Modernization and National Security Focus

The move is framed as a way to more wisely spend funding. Officials noted that this relocation focuses spending appropriately: on defending the homeland, fighting crime, and safeguarding the country.

It is also meant to providing the agency's personnel with better tools for much less money compared to maintaining the older structure.

Legal Controversies and the Building's Legacy

This decision comes after previous legal disputes concerning the bureau's future home. Earlier, officials from a nearby state had sued over the cancellation of a congressional plan to move the headquarters to their state, arguing that funds had already been set aside by Congress for that purpose.

The J. Edgar Hoover Building itself is a prominent example of concrete-heavy design, designed and constructed in the mid-20th century. Its aesthetic has long been a point of debate, as it stood in stark contrast to the design tradition of other government structures in the city.

Its own namesake, J. Edgar Hoover, was reportedly dismissive of the building, once calling it “a terrible eyesore ever built in the history of Washington.”