Evening star., 1896-12-09
ARTISTIC STANDS
Architects Protest Against Inaugural
DETACHMENT of the Avenue.
STRUCTURES ACROSS Side STREETS
Local Experts Interested in the
Proposed Plan.
PARKS HAVE BEEN HIDDEN
STRUCTURES ACROSS Side STREETS
PARKS HAVE BEEN HIDDEN

The architects of Washington have al
ready taken under consi ieration the matter
of the decoration OF the avenue and the
other streets elong which the procession
will pass on Inauguration day.
At a recent meeting OF the local chapter
of the American Inst titute of Architects The
matter was formally taken up ana Ar
rangements made TO bring IL 20 the atten-
ton of the committee which will have
charge Of parks and reservations on The
4th of March Among the me7 who have
taken an advanced position in the matter
are MIR. w. j. Marsh and Messrs Horn
blower and Marshall. -Four years ago the
IDEA of erecting public stands that sbo;,ll
be an ornament to the city instead Of an
eyesofe occurred to Mr.. Hornblowcr, hut
nothing was done at the time This wear
tne architects have started in carly 50
lEat the subject may have proper colsid-
GRAFTON before the committee on rarks anI
reservations is definitely committees TO any
particular plan.
Al the meeting of the local chap e. of
architects, IL was pon,ed ulit that al t,re-
Ilous lnaugurations IL mas been cusioluaIy
10 aiiow builders and spectators 10 erect
STANDS In front OF all the parks and rcsrr-
NatlonS along the line of mar-h rbasa
stands. instead of bel 1g an artrar,f,... e..
lure OF the street decorations, arc r.cr,Iy
rouSh pine structures, occasionally firaI..,1
win the cheapest and ilimsiest OF flags and
Il -
gied and shabby. They are erected in such
way ana in such pla ,es as to hide from
view az the parks and s.atles which ar.
such feature of Washingtor Four vars
aso' Ioi instance, long stand was bt.!I; on
inc Seuth side Of Lafayette Park thar pr,c
ieaiiy shut on that beautiful square from
.iie view or all the crowds or Pennsylyl9ia
avenue. ne pedestal of the statua or II.
1ayette was used Simply as a braca for ~.
ehd OF the stand, and the hig bronze, fi.I.e
va va hItdtn 10 the shoulders. Thousands ot
e.stois 70 Washington who were only here
TOT rev days never saw one of tha rnrst
beautiful reservations in ,he CITY or ri
.iie siiShtest idea where the IafavnItn
statue was located. The statue itself was
scohsiderably damaged py the wood.,o.l
which was built up around in lrbat ,,,." ~
Iue oi the one park was eauallN. Irua %,
many others. '"e oi
Their Plan.
lhis time the local architects seak n
'"ahse all that and TO usher in "A new
"sS'eih 10 govern the arrangements ma te
~ accommodate the crowds who are " n.
ne nc " pay tldy sum in order TO view III.
conditions ''i u -a''ie
Ihelr idea in brief is to abolish :he rrlyt-
iese Vi erecting stands in front Of ~ -lxs
Gnu RESERVATIONS. In lieu of these rha,.
would have stands erected in tba -
streets sur that lntersect the line of .aar.h
iheSe STANDS are to run either from huild-
ing line TO building line in the ST Ie s,r,..rs
VI from curb 10 curb as may seem the ma or,
desirable. They would extend To ,he bniId
ing line on the street along which The p.r-
age passes, but not beyond IL, SO as TO
oIer no obstruction to the cro,rds aI,.,,
the pavements. The stands are TO ha ,..;-,.r,
apoNe the street so that ordinary traffic
can pass under them Without hiadrau,e
Parks to BE Visible,
one OF the leading architects of -he CITY.
speaking OF the matter to a Star -e,or.er
said:
There are thousands of people from an
Parts or the country whose impressions
OF the capital are based upon what fhey
can see when they are here for an inau.u-
ration. These must carry away with them
the idea that the avenue is a very che1n
ana tawdry affair. They have heard of
the pretty little parks scattered all over
town, but all they have seen is a line of
ugly stands, open to the clements and
wrapped around with streaky strings of
Soiofed bunting. The time will como. I
DeIeNe, when committee on decorations
Will look upon the avenue as ne;hine
to he treated artistically and consistently
from one end to The other hut that time
L am afraid. is still a long way off In the
meantime If the committee which has
charge of the matter would only do the
best they could in the premises /. would
help tremendously. In my opinion IL is
an act Of folly to let out all the dcsira hle
points of view to spectators who are TN
der no restrictions except that the stands
they put up must comply with the rcgula-
| f1ons OF the building inspector. They are
not compelled to decorate their stands ard
when they do it of their own accord .here
! is no attempt at uniformity. If there wore
a series of stands erected at every inter-
secting street and all built on the same
general plan they would constitute an at
tractive feature, and would leave .inm-
| peded the parks and reservations. AS
every one knows, the stands that have
been built in other years We're allo wed 10
encroach upon the sidewalks and il was
| in front of them ttat there was always
the greatest congestion of people lie
waited stands, such as the local chap.er Of
architects suggest. would he above the
heads of pedestrians and would not in any
way Interfere with the crowds that WOULD
be making their way to or from desirable
points of view along the line of the par
a6e.
Some Featurcs.
The fact that there would be larger
| number Of stands would make f. possible
for more builders to contract for the work
Of putting them up, and | believe that the
| rivalry that would ensue would result in
more artistic and more satisfactory stands.
There is Nd reason why they should not be
inclosed in glass as well as rooted over. so
that persons who bought tickets would be
sure of dry and sheltered seat from
which to view the parade. man hesi-
tates to invest lot of money in seats in an
open stand until he knows what sort of
weather we going to have on the day
of the parade. / remember that in the
stand i'm which / sat four years ago not
more than half the seats were sold. If tn.
| stands were inclosed and rooted over the
builder would be reasonably sure of selling
| all Eis space
Stands such as we suggest would lend
| themselves admirably to decorative pur-
poses. 1t would be possible to use staff,
was used in the worlds fair buildings. with
| good effect. and the fact that so many
stands would be built on practically the
same lines would greatly lessen the cost of
building and decorating them.
1T has been suggested that people VINO
have windows along the side streets from
which a view of the avenue can be had
would object to the erection Of these stands
| on the ground that they would cut of their
view. l think this objection could be re-
moved by giving to these householders a
certain amount of space or a reasonable
Lumber of seats in the stands TO compen-
safe them for what they would lose.
THE architects are very much In earnest
| in this matter and hope that the commit
tee will give IL serious consideration. IL IL
should meet with their approval the local
architects would agree to make the designs
I for the stands free of all charge and would
assist them in every way possible in MAX
! ing the avenue what II ought to be- the
4 most beautiful and imposing street i'm the
United States at a time when IL ought to
look its very best