Sign 5 - US Army Building
As government appropriations were paying for its erection, the US Army’s War Department oversaw construction of the loading plant. As the site’s owner, the Bethlehem Loading Company, a subsidiary of the Bethlehem Steel Company, was responsible for contracting the work to be done. However, the War Department had to approve all plans before contracts were awarded and buildings were erected.
The US Army Building faced west onto State Route 50 and stood just north of the employment office and dispensary. It was somewhat smaller than the Administration Building located to the south, but was similar in appearance and was also two-stories tall. Like the Administration Building, it also had a 2-story brick vault which still stands amid the concrete foundations and pieces of broken plaster strewn about the site. Just over 33,000 dollars was budgeted for this building which was, of necessity, among the first to be completed.
The staff building erected for the US Army was one of almost 200 constructed at the plant by a workforce of more than 1,500 men. Carpenters, masons, well-drillers, ironworkers, electricians, plumbers, steamfitters, sheet metal workers, and others were hired locally and from the greater Philadelphia and Camden areas.
F.H. Clement, an industrial contractor from Philadelphia who specialized in railroad construction, was chosen to build the plant and its railroad. Clement had worked on many major east coast rail lines including the Baltimore & Ohio’s extensive routes in Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Vivian Smith, a 31-year old architect from Atlantic City, was the supervising architect. Smith also designed the town of Belcoville, naming its streets with the surnames of F.H. Clement, Eugene Grace who was president of Bethlehem Steel, James Madden who was general manager of Bethlehem Loading Company, and others. Many of the buildings Smith designed in Atlantic and Cape May counties still stand today. Examples include the city halls in Ventnor and Ocean City, the Atlantic City War Memorial, and in Ocean City the Flanders Hotel and the Music Pier.