Heating Plant (Current Primary Name)
Central Heating Plant and Laundry (Current Alternative Name)
Power Plant (Current Alternative Name)
Resource Identification
Name
Building Number
46 (Current Primary Number)
Evaluation
AFRH-W Historic District
-
Status
- Contributing (2007-01-01)
-
Period(s) of Significance
- Planning for the New Century (1901-1918)
-
Area(s) of Significance
- Architecture
-
Relative Level of Significance
- Supporting (2006-10-29)
-
Quantitative Evaluation
-
Criterion A: 2 Criterion B: 0 Criterion C: 2 Criterion D: 0 National Significance: 0 Integrity: 2 Total Score: 6
Other AFRH-W Designations
none recorded
Other Designations
none recorded
Classification
NRHP Resource Type
Building
NRHP Resource Category
Security- Maintenance- and Utility-Related
NRHP Resource Subcategory
Energy Facility
Wuzit (original purpose)
Heating Plant
Important Dates
Construction Date (start)
1906-01-01
Original Construction (note month and day are placeholders)
Original Construction (note month and day are placeholders)
Construction Date (end)
1907-01-01
(note month and day are placeholders)
(note month and day are placeholders)
Location
Address
Primary Address
3700 North Capitol Street NW, Washington, DC 20011
Location Description
none recorded
Character Area
1947/1953 Impact
AFRH-W Master Plan Zone
AFRH Zone - Other Areas
Phase 1A Archaeological Zone
Zone 9
Description
Architectural Style
Romanesque Revival
Description
General Description
This building was constructed to generate heat, light, and power and to process laundry for the expanding Home after the turn of the century. Designed by Captain John Stephens Sewell of the Army Corps of Engineers, the building is located along the eastern edge of the property, where many of the industrial and mechanical buildings were located during the 1947-1953 Master Plan phases; thus, its location parallel to North Capitol Street established a precedent for later utilitarian buildings on the site. Its machinery was obtained from the United States Naval Academy. The brick plant is executed in the Romanesque Revival style, with its parapeted gables, oculus windows, pedimented entry bay, and stone water table. The building exhibits several late-twentieth-century additions. It was altered in 1948 and again in 1951 to accommodate a dry cleaning plant. One Home official described this building as "the heart and pulse of the institution." The Heating Plant is the last remaining above-ground industrial element in the Home's expansive physical plant and infrastructure. Although isolated from its historical setting and subjected to inappropriate additions, it represents the Home's efforts to create a mainly self-contained community which included the development of its own critical infrastructure networks: energy and transportation.
In
October 2013, AFRH decommissioned the Heating Plant and replaced its function
by more energy- and cost-efficient systems.
Function and Use
Function
Industrial Infrastructure
(Historic Function)
1906-01-01
to
2013-10-04
Vacant
(Current Primary Function)
from 2013-10-04
Detailed Description
Form Type
none recorded
Measurements
none recorded
Components
none recorded
none recorded
Modifications
none recorded
Map
Related Resources
Related Character Areas
1947/1953 Impact (is contained within / contains)
Related People/Organizations
John Stephens Sewell (Architect, was designed by / designed)
Adams & Schwab (Engineering Firm, was designed by / designed)
