Rocky Flats Plant, Offices, Print Shop, and Photography Lab
HAER No. CO-83-V (Rocky Flats Plant, Building 111)

Location:
Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, Highway 93, Golden, Jefferson County, Colorado. Building 111 is located in the northwest quadrant of the Rocky Flats Plant near the west terminus of Central Avenue, north of the Health Physics area.

Significance:
This building is a primary contributor of the Rocky Flats Plant historic district, and is associated with the U.S. strategy of nuclear military deterrence during the Cold War, a strategy considered of major importance in preventing Soviet nuclear attack. Building 111, built in 1953, was one of the first 10 permanent structures at the plant. All information associated with the nuclear program was classified, and all individuals with access to the plant had to undergo a security clearance review. This building was the original point of entry for plant employees.

Description:
Building 111 houses offices for senior personnel of the Management and Operating Contractor, as well as U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) management. The main printing shop and photography lab for the plant are located in the basement.

Building 111 is an L-shaped structure. The north-south section is two stories high, with dimensions of 258 by 50 feet. The east-west section is 267 by 49 feet and only one story. A basement is below the north-south section with dimensions of 172 by 50 feet.

The exterior walls of Building 111 are concrete block, with the exception of the auditorium, which is poured concrete. The interior walls are concrete block, gypsum board, or wood paneling. The windows are industrial, metal sash, fixed, with four horizontal muntins. The roof is built-up asphalt over concrete. The addition at the west end is concrete with no windows.

History:
Built in 1953, Building 111 was one of the first 10 permanent buildings constructed at the plant. Two additions at the south end of the building were completed in the late 1960s. One of the additions houses an auditorium, the other houses offices.

One of the primary functions of the building was to serve as the entry point for site employees. Most employees were cleared for work only in their own buildings and were required to have a separate badge for each area entered. Workers were required to park outside the plant area, at the west end (the sole entry point), and were bused from the front gate to Building 111. There they checked in at the clock room, where they stood in lines according to badge number, then they proceeded to their respective buildings. The clock room was located in the southern-most end of the north-south wing. After the plant implemented a timesheet policy in the early 1970s, clocking in and out every day became unnecessary, so the clock room was converted into offices.

Print Shop: The Print Shop at the plant is a government-authorized printing plant that reproduced forms, reports, letters, brochures, drawings, illustrations, calendars, posters, charts, and the plant newspaper. The Print Shop began operations in the early 1950s. The first printing equipment at the plant was an AB Dick printing press. Photostat copiers were not installed until the 1960s.

The plant newspaper was originally printed on a weekly basis. The newspaper published information concerning plant operations, such as when and where to turn in dosimeters, updates on the communication systems, building upgrades, safety reminders, and other community information. The newspaper also routinely featured stories concerning employee special achievements, such as patent awards or other milestones.

In the early years of the plant, certain documents were classified as secret and top-secret. These documents had special administrative controls to ensure that unauthorized document reproduction did not occur. An armed escort generally accompanied top-secret documents that were to be copied. By the mid-1970s, top-secret documents were no longer maintained at the plant.

Control of secret documents relied upon what was termed "accountability." Accountability was a unique numbering and marking system applied to each secret document to be copied. Additionally, requests for document reproduction had to be authorized by the controller of the document, and two people were required to complete the print job. One person ran the equipment, while the other person acted as a witness and supervisor to ensure that misprints and overruns were shredded, and that the job was accurately counted. The document storage facility that received the copied documents also recounted the documents with a witness to verify the numbering was correct.

Other administrative controls used to prevent unauthorized document reproduction included the requirement for a security (Q) clearance to enter the Print Shop. Secret and top-secret documents were kept in secured areas.

Photography Lab: During the production years at the plant, the Photography Lab was the only authorized entity for taking photos on the site; the use of personal cameras was prohibited. Until the late 1990s, the act of bringing a camera onto the plant site without an authorized camera pass was prohibited, and could result in a security infraction being issued. Photography was used primarily for documentation of production, research and development activities, products, and building construction. Photographs of product were taken to document production levels and quality, and to illustrate production techniques, difficulties, and successes. Photographs were taken of research and development activities for similar purposes. Photographs of building construction were taken to document progress of building completion.

Later uses of photography included documentation of decontamination and demolition activities and environmental investigation and cleanup activities, which supported the new mission of environmental restoration.

Sources:
Abeyta, Katherine, employed at the plant for 27 years by the site contractor. Personal communication, January 1998.

Buffer, Pat, employed at the plant since 1984 by the site contractor. Personal communication, November 1997.

Krieg, Dolores, employed at the plant for 40 years by the site contractor. Personal communication, November 1997.

Ellison, Ruth, employed at the plant for 7 years by the site contractor. Personal communication, January 1998.

United States Department of Energy. Rocky Flats Plant, Interim Safety Analysis Report (1989), by Rockwell International Energy Systems Group. Rocky Flats Repository. Golden, Colorado, 1989.

United States Department of Energy. Site Safety Analysis Report, Notebook 11-Security, by EG&G Rocky Flats, Inc.
Rocky Flats Repository. Golden, Colorado, 1994.

United States Department of Energy. Final Cultural Resources Survey Report (1995), by Science Applications International Corporation. Rocky Flats Repository. Golden, Colorado, 1995.

Historians:
D. Jayne Aaron, Environmental Designer, engineering-environmental Management, Inc. (e²M), 1997. Judith Berryman, Ph.D., Archaeologist, e²M, 1997.

Index to Photographs

Located in the northwest quadrant of the plant near the west terminus of Central Avenue, Golden Vicinity, Jefferson County, Colorado.

Photographs CO-83-V-1 through CO-83-V-3 were taken by various site photography contractors, dates are indicated in parentheses.