Oklahoma City Bombing A 'Wake-Up Call' For Government Security

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Sunday will mark 20 years since a truck bomb exploded next to the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. One hundred and sixty-eight people were killed in the blast. Hundreds were injured. There are many lasting impacts, including more security at federal buildings around the nation, especially here in Washington. NPR's Brian Naylor reports.

BRIAN NAYLOR, BYLINE: Twenty years ago, I couldn't stand where I am right now, in front of the White House in the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue. Back then, it was full of cars and trucks moving from the Capitol to the White House on to Georgetown. It was America's main street. But the blast in front of the Alfred Murrah Building changed all that. The Secret Service feared that someone could park a truck bomb here. So Pennsylvania Avenue was closed. Here's President Clinton in 1995.

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PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: Clearly, this closing is necessary because of the changing nature and scope of the threat of terrorist actions. It should be seen as a responsible security step necessary to preserve our freedom, not part of a long-term restriction of our freedom.

BARBARA NADEL: This was the wake-up call, almost a precursor to 9/11 and many of the things we've seen around the world since then.

NAYLOR: Barbara Nadel is a New York-based architect and author of the book "Building Security." She says the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City was an inviting target for an attack.

NADEL: That building was smack up against the street. It was literally right up against the road, so it was extremely vulnerable.

NAYLOR: Nadel says the government had no standards for security design before Oklahoma City. Les Shepherd disagrees. He's the chief architect for the General Services Administration, the landlord for most federal agencies.

LES SHEPHERD: We've always, you know, addressed security. I think that we've gotten more specific about, what are the minimum security requirements? So, it's always been part of the consideration. But, you know, I think we've just looked at, what can we do to ensure that it doesn't happen again?

NAYLOR: After Oklahoma City, the GSA determined that federal buildings from now on should be set back from the street, that blast-resistant glass should be used and the buildings themselves engineered to prevent floors from collapsing. But has the government now gone too far in the other direction? After Oklahoma City and the 9/11 attacks six years later, cement flower planters sprouted and concrete jersey barriers rose up in front of federal buildings. It seemed as though the government was walling itself off from the people. The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts reviews designs for federal buildings in Washington. Secretary Thomas Luedtke.

THOMAS LUEDTKE: The issue of the decade has been, how can we tame this stuff? How can we make this - how can we make these barriers not seem so intrusive, not degrade sort of the public experience?

NAYLOR: The GSA's Les Shepherd says it's a balancing act.

SHEPHERD: If you look at the new buildings that we've done in the last 20 years - a special emphasis that the buildings do not look like a fortress, that they are public buildings. We recognize that.

NAYLOR: Luedtke says the government has gotten better at taming what he calls the security beast, using landscaping to disguise barriers and removing the big cement flower planters. Architect Barbara Nadel.

NADEL: We want to maintain buildings that are welcoming, accessible, open and humane. And there's a lot of support for creating wonderful architecture that really is emblematic of the American spirit and democracy.

NAYLOR: Still, the challenge of protecting government buildings continues to evolve. Now officials have to worry about things like drones landing on the White House grounds and an auto gyrocopter that landed near the Capitol Building earlier this week. Brian Naylor, NPR News, Washington. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.