The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was a

United States federal government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fe ...

complex located at 200 N.W. 5th Street in

downtown Oklahoma City Downtown Oklahoma City is located at the geographic center of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area and contains the principal, central business district of the region. The CBD has over 51,000 workers and over of leasable office space to-date. Down ...

, Oklahoma. On April 19, 1995, at 9:02 a.m. the building was the target of the

Oklahoma City bombing The Oklahoma City bombing was a domestic terrorism in the United States, domestic terrorist truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, on April 19, 1995. Perpetrated by two anti-federal go ...

, which killed 168 people.Binomial.com
, Phoenix Disaster Recovery Newsletter: Retrieved 2001-03-29. A third of the building collapsed seconds after the truck bomb detonated. The remains were demolished a month after the attack, and the

Oklahoma City National Memorial The Oklahoma City National Memorial is a memorial in the United States that honors the victims, survivors, rescuers, and all who were affected by the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995. The memorial is located in downtown Oklahoma City on th ...

was built on the site.

Construction and use

The building was designed by architects Stephen H. Horton and Wendell Locke of Locke, Wright and Associates and constructed by J.W. Bateson using reinforced concrete in 1977 at a cost of $14.5 million. The building, named for federal judge Alfred P. Murrah, an Oklahoma native, opened on March 2, 1977. By the 1990s, the building contained regional offices for the

Social Security Administration The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that administers Social Security, a social insurance program consisting of retirement, disability and survivor benefits. To qualify ...

, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the

United States Secret Service The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security charged with conducting criminal investigations and protecting U.S. political leaders, their families, and ...

, the Department of Veterans Affairs vocational rehabilitation counseling center, the

Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic en ...

(D.E.A.), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF). It also contained recruiting offices for the US Military. It housed approximately 550 employees. It also housed America's Kids, a children's day care center.

Prior bombing plots

In October 1983, members of the Christian militia group The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord (CSA), including founder

James Ellison James Ellison may refer to: * James O. Ellison (1929–2014), U.S. federal judge * James T. Ellison (1862–1920s), New York gangster *James Ellison (actor) (1910–1993), American film actor *James Ellison (footballer, born 1901) (1901–1958), En ...

and Richard Snell plotted to park "a van or trailer in front of the Federal Building and blow it up with rockets detonated by a timer." While the CSA was building a rocket launcher to attack the building, the ordnance accidentally detonated in a member's hands. The CSA took this as

divine intervention Divine intervention is an event that occurs when a deity (i.e. God or a god) becomes actively involved in changing some situation in human affairs. In contrast to other kinds of divine action, the expression "divine ''intervention''" implies that ...

and called off the planned attack. Convicted of murder in an unrelated case, Richard Snell was executed on April 19, 1995, the same day the bombing of the federal building was carried out, after Associate Supreme Court Justice

Clarence Thomas Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to succeed Thurgood Marshall and has served since 1 ...

declined to hear further appeal.

Destruction

At 9:02 a.m. local time on April 19, 1995, a Ryder rental truck, containing approximately 7,000 pounds (3,175 kg) of

ammonium nitrate Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is a white crystalline salt consisting of ions of ammonium and nitrate. It is highly soluble in water and hygroscopic as a solid, although it does not form hydrates. It is ...

fertilizer,

nitromethane Nitromethane, sometimes shortened to simply "nitro", is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest organic nitro compound. It is a polar liquid commonly used as a solvent in a variety of industrial applications such as in ...

, and

diesel fuel Diesel fuel , also called diesel oil, is any liquid fuel specifically designed for use in a diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignition takes place without a spark as a result of compression of the inlet air and ...

was detonated in front of the building, destroying a third of it and causing severe damage to several other buildings located nearby. As a result, 168 people were killed, including 19 children, and over 800 others were injured. It remains the deadliest domestic terrorist attack, with the most property damage, in the U.S.

Timothy McVeigh Timothy James McVeigh (April 23, 1968 – June 11, 2001) was an American domestic terrorist responsible for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people, 19 of whom were children, injured more than 680 others, and destroyed one-third ...

, a

U.S Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

veteran, was found guilty of the attack in a jury trial and sentenced to death. He was executed in 2001. A co-conspirator,

Terry Nichols Terry Lynn Nichols (born April 1, 1955) is an American domestic terrorist who was convicted of being an accomplice in the Oklahoma City bombing. Prior to his incarceration, he held a variety of short-term jobs, working as a farmer, grain elevato ...

, is serving multiple

life sentences Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes ...

in a federal prison. Third and fourth subjects, Michael Fortier and his wife, Lori, assisted in the plot. They testified against both McVeigh and Nichols in exchange for a 12-year prison term for Michael and

immunity Immunity may refer to: Medicine * Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease * ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press Biology * Immune system Engineering * Radiofrequence immunity desc ...

for Lori. Michael was released into the

witness protection program Witness protection is security provided to a threatened person providing testimonial evidence to the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during, and after a trial, usually by police. While a witness may only require p ...

in January 2006. McVeigh said that he bombed the building on the second anniversary of the

Waco siege The Waco siege, also known as the Waco massacre, was the law enforcement siege of the compound that belonged to the religious sect Branch Davidians. It was carried out by the U.S. federal government, Texas state law enforcement, and the U.S. ...

in 1993 to retaliate for U.S. government actions there and at the siege at

Ruby Ridge Ruby Ridge was the site of an eleven-day siege in 1992 in Boundary County, Idaho, near Naples. It began on August 21, when deputies of the United States Marshals Service (USMS) initiated action to apprehend and arrest Randy Weaver under a bench ...

. Before his execution, he said that he did not know a day care center was in the building and that, had he known, "It might have given me pause to switch targets." The FBI said that he scouted the interior of the building in December 1994 and likely knew of the day care center before the bombing.

Artwork in the building

Many works of art were in the building when it was destroyed in the

. The

displays art that survived the bombing. 19 pieces of art recovered from the Murrah Building are on permanent display on the first floor of

University of Central Oklahoma The University of Central Oklahoma (UCO or Central State) is a public university in Edmond, Oklahoma. It is the third largest university in Oklahoma, with more than 17,000 students and approximately 434 full-time and 400 adjunct faculty. Founde ...

's Max Chambers Library. These pieces include: * ''Monolith IV,'' sculpture by Franklin Simons * ''Morning Mist,'' photograph by David Halpern * ''Charon's Sentinels,'' photograph by David Halpern * ''North of Cunningham,'' photograph by Albert Durr Edgar * ''Cowboy in Coffee Shop,'' photograph by Curt Clyne * ''Morning in Taos,'' fiber art by Betty Jo Kidson * ''Sun Form,'' fiber sculpture by Dena Madole * ''Storm,'' sculpture by Richard Davis * ''Double Layers,'' fiber art by Jane Knight * ''31 Flavors,'' fiber sculpture by Sally Anderson * ''Loyal Creek,'' clay sculptures by Carol Whitney * ''October,'' fiber art by Joyce Pardington * ''Precise Notations,'' tapestry by Bud Stalnaker * ''A Fallen Oak Tree,'' wood mural by James Strickland * ''Carnival,'' tapestry by Anna Burgess * ''A Fur Piece,'' mixed media by Rebecca Friedman * ''Oklahoma Quilt'' by Terrie Mangat * ''Canyon Wall Number 2,'' fiber art by Joyce Pardington * ''Sunburst'' '','' fiber art by Melanie Vandenbos Lost works are as follows: * ''Sky Ribbons: An Oklahoma Tribute'', 1978 fiber sculpture by Gerhardt Knodel * ''Columbines at Cascade Canyon'', photograph by Albert D. Edgar * ''Winter Scene'', photograph by Curt Clyne * ''Soaring Currents'', sisal and rayon textile by Karen Chapnick * ''Monolith'', porcelain sculpture by Frank Simons * ''Through the Looking Glass'', wool textile by Anna Burgress * ''Palm Tree Coil'', bronze sculpture by Jerry McMillan. An untitled acrylic sculpture by Fred Eversley was severely damaged, but survived the blast.

Demolition

Rescue and recovery efforts were concluded at 11:50 pm on May 1, with the bodies of all but three victims recovered. For safety reasons, the remains were to be demolished shortly afterward. However, McVeigh's attorney, Stephen Jones, called for a

motion In physics, motion is the phenomenon in which an object changes its position with respect to time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed and frame of reference to an observer and m ...

to delay the demolition until the defense team could examine the site in preparation for the trial. More than a month after the bombing, at 7:01 am on May 23, the remains were demolished. The final three bodies, those of two credit union employees and a customer, were recovered. For several days after the remains' demolition, trucks hauled 800 tons of debris a day away from the site. Some of it was used as evidence in the conspirators' trials, incorporated into parts of memorials, donated to local schools, or sold to raise funds for relief efforts.

Remnants and replacement

Several remnants of the building stand on the site of the

. The plaza (on what was once its south side) has been incorporated into the memorial; the original flagpole is still in use. The east wall (within the building's footprint) is intact, as well as portions of the south wall. The underground parking garage survived the blast and is used today, but is guarded and closed to the public. Consideration was given to not replacing the Murrah Building and to renting office space for agencies affected. Ultimately, the

General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. gover ...

broke ground on a replacement building in 2001 which was completed in 2003. The new 185,000 square foot building was designed by Ross Barney Architects of Chicago, Illinois, with Carol Ross Barney as the lead designer. Constructed on a two city block site, one block north and west of the former site, the new building's design maximized sustainable design and workplace productivity initiatives. Security design was paramount to the Federal employees and its neighbors. Secure design was achieved based on the GSA's current standards for secure facilities including blast resistant glazing. Structural design resists progressive collapse. Building mass, glazing inside the courtyard, and bollards help to maintain a sense of openness and security. The art in architecture component of the building incorporates a water feature that acts as an additional security barrier.

References

External links

Photos of the Murrah building before the bombing
{{Authority control Federal buildings in the United States Former skyscrapers Buildings and structures in Oklahoma City Buildings of the United States government Collapsed buildings in the United States Government buildings in Oklahoma Government buildings completed in 1977 1970s architecture in the United States 1977 establishments in Oklahoma 1995 disestablishments in Oklahoma Oklahoma City bombing Demolished buildings and structures in Oklahoma Buildings and structures demolished by controlled implosion Buildings and structures demolished in 1995