As workers began shoring up the Pentagon after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, they mourned the 188 dead or missing. But officials also said blast-resistant windows and other security features in the newly upgraded section hit by the hijacked jet helped keep the disaster from being even worse. Moreover, they prepared to bolster the rest of the huge building, awarding a contract for the renovation's next phase. The plane hit the 6.5-million-sq-ft building's southwest side at just-renovated "Wedge One" and then penetrated an unrenovated area, says Walker Lee Evey, Pentagon renovation manager. The building withstood a tremendous amount of punishment because of the very resilient design," Evey said at a Sept. 15 briefing. 'This was a terrible tragedy and people lost their lives. But I'm here to tell you that had we not undertaken this [renovation] ...this could have been much, much worse."
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