The Philip A. Hart Senate Office Building is the third U.S. Senate office building, and is located on 2nd Street NE between Constitution Avenue NE and C Street NE, northeast of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Construction began in January 1975, and it was first occupied in November 1982. Rapidly rising construction costs plagued the building, creating several unfortunate scandals. The structure is named for Philip A. Hart (1912–1976), who served 18 years as a United States Senator from Michigan. Accessed via a spur of the United States Capitol subway system, the building features a nine-story atrium dominated by massive artwork, and a large Central Hearing Facility which provides television facilities as well as extensive seating.
Design and construction
The Dirksen Senate Office Building was intended to occupy the entire block bounded by 1st Street NE, Constitution Avenue NE, 2nd Street NE, and C Street NE. However, due to the resource and financial demands of the Korean War, the building was scaled back and occupied only the western half of this area.
thumb|left|Groundbreaking for the Hart Senate Office Building on January 5, 1976. Assistant Architect of the Capitol Mario Campioli (left) and Architect of the Capitol George White (right).
In 1969, Congress voted to acquire the eastern half of the block for a "New Senate Office Building". Originally, the Senate intended only to build a $21 million ($ in dollars) underground parking garage here. That effort was approved in June 1971. But in May 1972, the Subcommittee on Buildings of the Senate Committee on Public Works approved a plan to construct the New Senate Office Building above the parking garage. The full Senate approved the building plan in September 1972, but by then the building's estimated cost had risen to $53.5 million ($ in dollars).
In April 1973, the Architect of the Capitol awarded the architectural design contract to John Carl Warnecke, a nationally prominent architect working in the District of Columbia who had helped save Lafayette Square and designed the John F. Kennedy grave site. Warnecke's design for the building was approved by the Senate Committee on Public Works on August 8, 1974. Warnecke was given just two weeks to come up with the cost estimate, which the Architect of the Capitol later claimed was far too little time to generate an accurate cost forecast. The poor and uneven condition of the soil at the site caused delays in the excavation, and major cost increases. Hart died on December 26, 1976, of melanoma, having declined to run for reelection the previous November.
By August 1978, actual construction costs were now $85 million ($ in dollars) By 1979, construction estimates had soared to $179 million ($ in dollars), and the General Accounting Office said it would rise to $230 million ($ in dollars) without changes. In July 1979, the Senate agreed to cap costs at $137.7 million ($ in dollars) after an acrimonious three-hour debate during which some senators suggested the building be torn down. for an interior gymnasium,