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| Russell Senate Office Building | |
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.jpg) The southwest entrance along Constitution Avenue, N.E. (c. 2024) | |
  Location withinWashington, D.C. | |
| General information | |
| Status | Completed |
| Architectural style | Beaux-Arts |
| Location | United States Capitol Complex,Washington, D.C., United States |
| Coordinates | 38°53′34″N77°0′25″W / 38.89278°N 77.00694°W /38.89278; -77.00694 |
| Construction started | 1903; 122 years ago (1903) |
| Opened | March 5, 1909; 116 years ago (March 5, 1909) |
| Technical details | |
| Material | Marble and Limestone |
| Grounds | 698,921 square feet (64,931.9 m2) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Edward Clark |
| Architecture firm | Carrère and Hastings |
| This article is part ofa series on the |
| United States Senate |
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| History of the United States Senate |
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TheRussell Senate Office Building is the oldest of theUnited States Senate office buildings. Designed in theBeaux-Artsarchitectural style, it was built from 1903 to 1908 and opened in 1909. It was named forRichard Russell Jr., a former U.S. senator fromGeorgia, in 1972.[1] It occupies a site north of the Capitol bounded byConstitution Avenue, First Street, Delaware Avenue, and C Street N.E.
The firstcongressional office building was constructed immediately after the turn of the 20th century to relieve overcrowding in theUnited States Capitol. Previously, members who wanted office space had to rent quarters or borrow space in committee rooms. In March 1901, Congress authorizedArchitect of the CapitolEdward Clark to draw plans forfireproof office buildings adjacent to the Capitol grounds. In March 1903, the acquisition of sites and construction of the buildings were authorized, and the Senate Office Building Commission selected a site.
In April 1904, the prominentNew York Cityarchitectural firm ofCarrère and Hastings was retained. John Carrère took charge of the Senate Office Building project, while Thomas Hastings oversaw the construction of an almost identical office building (now named theCannon House Office Building) for theUnited States House of Representatives. Their Beaux Arts designs were restrained complements to the Capitol. Architecturally, their elevations are divided into arusticated base and acolonnade with anentablature andbalustrade. The Constitution Ave. side is a quasi replica of theeasternmost façade of the Palais du Louvre in Paris. The colonnades, with 34Doric columns that face the Capitol, are echoed bypilasters on the sides of the buildings. Both buildings are faced withmarble andlimestone; the Russell Building's base and terrace are graygranite. Modern for their time, they included such facilities asforced-air ventilation systems, steam heat, individuallavatories with hot and coldrunning water and ice water,telephones, andelectricity. Both are connected to the Capitol by underground passages. Originally there were 98 suites and eight committee rooms in the Russell Building; the First Street Wing, completed in 1933, added two committee rooms and 28 suites.
Of special architectural interest is therotunda. EighteenCorinthian columns support an entablature and acoffereddome, whose glazed oculus floods therotunda withsunlight. Twin marble staircases lead from the rotunda to an imposing Caucus Room, which features Corinthian pilasters, a full entablature, and a richly detailed ceiling; the Russell Caucus Room (known since 2009 as the "Kennedy Caucus Room" in honor of SenatorsJohn F. Kennedy,Robert F. Kennedy, andEdward M. Kennedy)[1] retains its original 1910 benches andsettles with carvedeagles. This space has been used for many hearings on subjects of national significance, including the 1912sinking of the RMSTitanichearings; the 1974Watergate hearings, theIran-Contra hearings, and the 1991Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination hearings. The rotunda contains a statue of Russell by sculptorFrederick Hart.[2]
The Russell Building was occupied in 1909 by the Senate of the 61st Congress. The growth of staff and committees in the twenty years following its completion resulted in the addition of a fourth side, the First Street Wing, to the originally U-shaped building.Nathan C. Wyeth andFrancis P. Sullivan were the consulting architects for the new wing, which was completed in 1933. The building was originally named the Senate Office Building. When theDirksen Office Building was completed, it became the New Senate Office Building and the original Senate Office Building became the "Old Senate Office Building" until being renamed the Russell Building in 1972.
The building received extensive pop culture visual cachet in the 1970s when film footage of the southwest corner was regularly used to represent the headquarters of the fictional OSI organization in the TV seriesThe Six Million Dollar Man andThe Bionic Woman.
After SenatorJohn McCain fromArizona died in 2018,Chuck Schumer, theSenate minority leader, introduced legislation to rename the building for McCain.[3][4] Though the bill received bipartisan support, it was not brought to a vote at the time because of a lack of commitment fromMitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader.[5]
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