Posted by
Defend America on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 9:13:33 PM
US diplomats add a moat to their expenses at $1bn London embassy
Catherine Philp, Diplomatic Correspondent
The United States has unveiled plans for its new $1 billion
high-security embassy in London — the most expensive it has ever built.
The proposals were met with relief from both the present embassy’s
Mayfair neighbours and the residents and developers of the Battersea
wasteland where the vast crystalline cube, surrounded by a moat, will
be built.
The decision to abandon the former site in Grosvenor Square by 2016
came after a prolonged battle with residents angered by the security
measures demanded after the September 11 attacks. More than a hundred
residents took out a full-page advertisement in The Times to oppose tighter measures that they said would leave the area more vulnerable to attack.
The new embassy, on a former industrial site behind Battersea power
station known for its gay clubs, will be designed by Kieran Timberlake,
the Philadelphia architect.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article7038550.ece