Building 111, known as the White House, stood north of the flagpole area and served as the U.S. Army's headquarters at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal from the Arsenal's establishment in 1942 until the building was demolished in 2008. It was the hub of activity for the Army's missions there, including manufacturing chemical agents and weapons to support World War II and Cold War conflicts in Korea and Vietnam, blending rocket fuel for the U.S. Air Force in support of NASA's missions, destroying the stockpile of bulk chemical agents and munitions previously stored at the Arsenal, and cleaning up contamination while transitioning the site to a National Wildlife Refuge. The U.S. Army's installation began there in the mid 1970s, and in 1985 the Program Manager's Office was established to oversee environmental cleanup as studies and plans for the final cleanup began. After a bald eagle winter roost was discovered in 1986, a new vision emerged to convert the Arsenal into a refuge, and Congress passed the Refuge Act in 1992.

Photo: Connor Olson

Commerce City, Colorado · USA