A nonprofit is pushing back on an emergency proposal to demolish historic buildings on the site of the Department of Homeland Security headquarters in Southeast D.C.
In mid-December, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem issued an emergency declaration to demolish 17 vacant buildings on the St. Elizabeths West Campus, which houses the agency’s headquarters. In a memo sent to the General Services Administration, Noem called the proposal necessary to “prevent the loss of life and property.”
Robert Kirkbride, spokesperson and founder for PreservationWorks, told WTOP the nonprofit objects to Noem’s declaration to the GSA, saying the buildings are part of a national historic landmark. St. Elizabeths Hospital opened in 1855 and was the first federally operated psychiatric hospital in the U.S…