The Cross Section, U.S. Geological Survey
Geologic Division
February 1979 v. 10, no. 2, p. 16-17
The USGS Creates A Western Campus
By Ward C. Smith, Avery Rogers, and Mary Hill
Shortly after World War II, a small cadre of U.S. Geological Survey people left their headquarters in the Old Mint Building in San Francisco and moved into a new physical and intellectual future for the USGS in the West. The Old Mint Building had survived the 1906 earthquake and fire; later it became a registered national landmark. Quarters in the Old Mint seemed large enough for the dozen geologists of the Mineral Branch. When they were joined by colleagues in the burgeoning Alaskan Branch, a few from the Engineering Geology Branch, and others, requirements for the Geologic Division outgrew the available space.
Director William Wrather and Assistant Director Thomas Nolan knew that it was unlikely that the Survey would return to its small pre-war size; indeed, vigorous new programs made staff increases likely. Recentralization by transfers back to Washington was equally impossible. A consolidated regional center, well-located and properly equipped for all the Divisions, offered the best long-range solution. The Survey returned in part to Clarence King's concept of dividing field operations west of the Mississippi into geographical groups, keyed to geological provinces, and represented by Regional Centers.
Leasing Officer Thomas Osborne, of the General Service Administration's San Francisco office, began the search for accommodations for the Survey's unique mix of activities. Alerted to Su8rvey traditions and working atmosphere by its staff, Osborne kept these important intangibles in mind as he sought a suitable location. In 1950, his review of available sites determined that the Menlo Park area met the basic requirements, including proximity to a major university. Finding no suitable building available for lease, Osborne invited bids on a contract to build and lease a structure. The assured lease term was only five years, although the Government had a option to extend the term in five-yearn increments. The leasor was required to design a building that could be converted to meet the requirements of alternate tenants. Furthermore, the Survey wanted an owner who would construct the required building on the site and hold open an adjacent parcel of land for an additional building that might be needed later. A contract, including these clauses, was negotiated and Building 1 was completed early in 1954. About that time, Osborne transferred from GSA to the Survey to head the Administrative Division office at Menlo Park.
Plans for Building 2 were developed soon thereafter. It was designed to fit Geologic Division occupancy without the constraints of structures required by plans for possible alternate use. Geologist David Gallagher determined to make the building fit its staff. Using functional furniture in modular units was the most conspicuous of his many contributions to the plans for the building. His design package combined desk space, slab table tops, microscope benches, storage cases for rock specimens, small laboratory sinks, large map-drafting boards, and related office fittings. Geologists could select an assortment of furniture that suited their needs; all the pieces would fit neatly into the assigned offices. The Survey occupied Building 2 in 1957 and it, along with Building 1, was purchased by the Government shortly thereafter.
The Survey constructed Building 3 on adjacent Government land to house the personnel and equipment of the Topographic Division that had been moved from Sacramento. This building, among the handsomest of the Menlo Park group, was the first building at the Center constructed with Federal funds. It was designed to meet the specific requirements of the Topographic Division's sophisticated mapmaking unit without consideration of alternate uses. Robert O. Davis, who headed the Division in the Western Region as "Pacific Region Engineer," established the specifications for the building. Architects Loubet and Glynn of San Francisco designed the two-story, 340 by 138-foot, 85,500 square foot building, at a cost of $12 per square foot. Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton dedicated Building 32 on November 24, 1959.
At the time, the USGS leased nearly all the other space that it used at Menlo Park. The old Building 4 housed the offices of the Assistant Director and parts of the Geologic and Publications Divisions; Building 5, the library; Building 6, the office of the Regional Hydrologist and part of the Publications Division; Buildings 8 and 9, the Earthquake Research Center, Computer Center, and additional offices of the Geologic Division. Other buildings occupied by the USGS brought the total to 21. Unusual quarters among them included the Conservation Division offices on the second floor of the City of Menlo Park's administration building and a marine facility near the Port of Redwood City.
Many of the USGS buildings were within walking distance of one another and some were within easy reach to bicycle. Western Region visitors (particularly VIP's) were treated to the Assistant Director's "guest bicycle" when touring the facilities or calling on scientists and engineers in offices scattered among the assorted buildings. Bicycle riding gives the visitor a pinch of exercise, a dash of bracing Western air, and a firm idea of how the USGS had grown.
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