A new building will be erected at the U.S. Embassy compound in Moscow, the Embassy said on Monday.
The seven-story building will house consular and visa departments to meet the growing demand from Russians wishing to visit the United States for business, tourism or education purposes.
The building will also accommodate the embassy’s civil services catering to U.S. tourists and expats living, studying or working in Russia.
The upper floors will be taken up by agencies promoting cooperation with the Russian government, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and foreign trade missions.
The new structure has been contracted to Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum and will complete the program that was signed between the Soviet Union and the United States in 1969 on building new embassy compounds in Washington and in Moscow, a U.S. Embassy official said.
The foundation stone will be laid in the summer and the building will be completed in 2015.
Construction of the U.S. Embassy began in 1979 and used supports built by Soviet workers. By 1985, it was discovered that the supports had eavesdropping equipment embedded throughout.
The building was abandoned and the embassy offices remained in the old building up the block.
Subsequently, the embassy was taken apart brick by brick and rebuilt stone by stone. The top two floors were knocked off and replaced by four new secure floors.
The building was re-opened in May 2000.
