Evening star., 1901-06-08
The Use of Park Space for Public
Building Sites Not Contemplated.
RAILROAD TRACKS MUST GO
Future of Memorial and Noble
Trees involved in the Project.
NO STR EET PROP S z D

The people of Washington have always
taken a deep interest in the great park
reaching from the Capitol to the river,
known as the Mall. This reservation has
afforded healthful refreshment and recrea-
tion tn many hundreds of thousands, and
Is regarded as one of the beauty spots of
the District The concern of the commu-
nifty i'm its preservation has recently been
aroused by the proposition. tentatively con-
sidered by the park commission now work
ing under the auspices of the Senate Dis
trict committee. for the creation through
the mall of a vista or stretch of green
sward between the Capitol and the monu-
ment. The stalking out of flags to indicate
the proposed width of this space $50 feet,
has revived the question of the Centennial
avenue. which was broached a year and
NOR ago in connection with the plans for
celebrating the first centenary of the ma
tionaI capital. That plan contemplated the
laying out of a broad street or roadway
through the northern edge of the Mall, to
be lined with public buildings. and involved
an elaborate project for the utilization of
the park lands as future building sites.
Public opinion in Washington was de-
cidedly opposed to such an avenue, and ex-
pressed itself in so emphatic manner as
to caIlSf. the Withdra wal of the plan from
immediate consideration. The District cit
izens indicated then their determination to
fight every proposition to cover additional
park surface either with the stone. brick
and mortar of public buildings or with the
asphalt surface of supeTffUous street.
No Park Invasion Now Threatened.
As the vista plan is row explained there
is reason confidently to believe that the
park commission has no purpose to revive
the Mall avenue plan or TO advocate the
use Of additional park space for building
purposes The proposition under consider
to l,f n in he
a strictly conventional stretch of turf, bor
dSred by elm trees. of such width as to
afford an Impressive vista fanked by the
Capitol and the monument. There are di-
VerGent views to the utility and the
beauty of such a stretch of grass, but the
members of the park commission are of
such standing in their profession that it
may confidently he believed that they Will
not deliberately perpetuate a crime against
the park principle. which they have been
asked to perfect through the development
Of the City's reservations. The plan for
vista is yet only tentative, having been
merely proposed. and being now under
study Indeed, Ill plans adopted by the
commission will be subject to future ap-
proVal, first by :he Senate committee in
charge of the inquiry, and later by the
two houses before the point of execution
IL reached
Track Removal Essential.
The proposed methods of treatment of the
Mail ITbbiem Indicate Ilal an essential led
ture of the broad plan. whether it shall
include the vista or not. is the removal of
the railroad structures from the reserva-
tion. 1t is recognized by the commission
that the railroad station. sheds and tracks
elevated as they will be under the new ter
minal plans, will prove an obstacle to any
comprehensive beautiful development of
the whole space, and will assuredly be in
the way of the uninterrupted vista
III tei in no Dian
lined The cartoon published in yesterdays
Star graphically illustrated the incongruity
of the two elements. the vista and the rail-
road The people of Washington have long
prayed for track removal from the Mall.
They hoped for success even In the last
stages of the fight in Congress last winter,
when the great power of the corporation
was demonstrated and the railroad was
given a permanent title to more than half
the park space bounded by 9TH and 18th
streets
Washington is heart and soul in sympa-
thy with the park commission in this desire
TO restore the mail TO its original dimen-
sions and character, through the persuasion
of the railroad officials TO accept a more
southerly location.
Remarkable Terminal Possible.
The great advantages accruing to the
city and even to the railroad company,
through the removal of the station to pri-
yate land on the south side of the park.
may be appreciated when the purposes of
the present commission are considered. IL
the plans tentatively in view are executed
this reservation will become one of the
most beautiful parks IN America. II will
then form virtually the front yard of the
Pennsylvania railroads terminal. There is
no measuring the prestige which the cor
pOratiOn would thus secure through the
utilization Of the governments great ex-
penditures for its benefit. The effect upon
the mind of the incoming tourist is not
rn he frTlac nod 6era -
convenience of access, too, recommend the
more SOutherly location of the station for
with the terminal south Of the park It
would be approached by greater variety
of routes than 1t Is at present facilitating
the handling of great throngs such as Of
ten occur In the course Of years rail-
reading.
The mall developed on the basis of track
removal will warrant some license In treat
ment. The commission is considering a
conventional plan IN this one place ONLY
contemplating the preservation of natural
effects in other portions Of the park area
Of the District.
Tree Destruetion.
The question of tree destruction is an i'm
portant factor which will trouble the park
commission in the conventional treatment
of the mall The suggested vista would
cost the lives OF a grove which has stood
for decades as one of the crowning glories
OF the capital. If this plan were
carried out the ak OF the woodsman
viii invade magnificent growth of
trees. many of which are fifty or sixty
years old. In many instances these spIen-
did trees were planted by men whose names
have gone into history. and who have long
since passed of the stage of life. The trees
are known as memorials TO these men. and
are pointed out TO visitors as objects of
especial interest.
Great work TO Be Blotted Out.
Not only would a forest OF trees be hewn
u make way for continuous lawn. or
vista. or boulevard. or whatever name n
may ultimately take. bur the work of Amer
ica's greatest landscape gardener would
be changed Downing. who died in 1870
whose text books on landscape gardening
are used as an authority today In this
country and IN Europe. laid out the Nah
ana his plan was executed by his assistant
breckenridge. and the design OF the Mall
remains today purely the idea of this
great gardener In every library of this
country and abroad when the standard
works on landscape gardening are called
for one of the first to be produced is that
of Downing. whose book may be called a
classic on the subject OF which IL treats
Downing laid out. the Mall as a pleasure
garden for the people. his plan being based