[5] The building was used as temporary space for offices dislocated by the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure process,[1] as well as the ongoing Pentagon Renovation Program.

Occupants refused to vacate the premises by the date set by the demolition program manager, causing him to cut off food service and remove the ATM to get them to leave.

After the demolition was completed, 12 feet of dirt would be replaced to return the area to green space suitable for grave sites.

There were also plans for an African-American history museum commemorating the Civil War-era Freedman's Village, which was immediately adjacent to the site.

Although exact acreages were not specified and the plan depended upon state cooperation, the MOU if implemented would have created a more contiguous plot of land for the cemetery.

[10] However, in December 2016, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 114-328) authorized the Secretary of the Army to expand the Cemetery by acquiring from Arlington County and the Commonwealth of Virginia by condemnation and other means properties near the Cemetery that contain the Southgate Road, South Joyce Street and Washington Boulevard right-of-ways, including the Washington Boulevard-Columbia Pike interchange.

The Army would also acquire for the Cemetery expansion about 7 acres (2.8 ha) of land located between Columbia Pike and Interstate 395 that the Commonwealth of Virginia then owned.