Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-04-03
FOR NEW UNION DEPOT
Senate District Committee
Submits Report.
FAVORS THE NEW SITE
STATION WILL BE THE FINEST IN
THE WORLD.
Report of the District Commissioners,
Also Favorable, Will Be Ready
in a Few Days.
FAVORS THE NEW SITE

Senator Mcmillan. chairman Of the COM
mittee on the District of Columbia, today
submitted TO the Senate the committees re-
| port on the bill to provide for union sta
| ton in the District of Columbia. The re-
port, which is favorable, is preliminary In
| its nature and Is to have added to it the
report of the District Commissioners. which
was not ready to accompany il today. The
report says:
The bill proposes that the Baltimore and
! Potomac Railroad Company shall remove
its tracks from the mall and shall unite
with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Com
pany in the construction OF a union pas
senger station on the north side of Massa-
chusetts avenue. at its intersection with
| Delaware avenue.
| The Baltimore and Potomac Railroad
| Company occupies a portion of the mall by
/ virtue of a grant made by the common
council and the board of aldermen OF the
! city of Washington. made March 70 49,,
the bill having been passed by two
! thirds vote in each the Senate and the
| House of Representatives. station site
south of the mall had been granted to the
| road, but the people living in the neigh
! hood strenuously objected to location
| near the schools and churches, and leading
| merchants petitioned Congress for a site
/ convenient to business on Pennsylvania
avenue.
During the Fffty-siXth Congress legisa-
| tion was enacted charging the occupation
of the railroad in the Mall This action was
| taken only after years of effort TO obtain
| the Withdrawal of the road from public
| space, and because of the demand for the
| elimination of grade crossings and increas-
ed facilities for handling the rapidly grow
| ing traffic. In the adjustment then made
the railroad received land in the NAH in
lieu of the usual cash payment of one-half
| the cost of track elevation.
The Present Proposition.
| The proposition now is that the United
| States shall buy, at a fair valuation, this
land, on which the railroad has been pay
| ing taxes for thirty years. and that the
railroad shall use the money SO received as
a portion of the expense of building tun-
mel and making connections with the pro-
posed union station.
| This proposition does not come from the
| railroads. They are satisfied with their
/ present situation. When the question Of
| improving the District of Columbia was
| taken up the removal of the railroad tracks
| from the mall was considered absolutely es-
sential. The mall was laid out to form The
| great approach TO the Capitol and ii is i'm
| possible to conceive any adequate treat
ment of the capital park system without
| freeing the mall from the railroad tracks
| and station.
| When this view of the situation was
placed before the president of the Pennsyl-
vania railroad, he replied, after very care
| full consideration. while he did not desire
/ any change, yet he realized that if Wash
| ington is to have the development of a
| capital city in the true sense OF that word
| the railroad must leave the mall. and he
was willing to accept any adjustment that
| would be fair to the stockholders whose In
| terests he represented.
Little to Recommend
From the standpoint of economical rail-
road management the proposed union sta
tion has little to recommend ii. The ter
mnal charges are increased from about 40
cents to about 81 20 per passenger car, and
| there will be no corresponding increase IN
| passengers. The Baltimore and Ohio.
which does a comparatively small passen-
| ger business would be much better off by
| keeping to the street site proposed in ex-
| listing legislation, especially as the change
/ compels that road to give up its present
extensive and well-located freight yards,
| and purchase city blocks in lexington.
Yet a station at street would bring a
great commercial structure into close
| proximity to the Capitol; the approaches
| would be narrow and indirect, and Massa-
chusetts avenue would be permanently dis
figured by being bridged by a train shed
500 feet in length. Those ugly features
| which lead to the removal of the railroad
| from the mall would be repeated by the c
street location.
| Very careful figures have been made in
| regard to the height at which the station
| should stand above the present grade Of
| Massachusetts, avenue. The architect de-
| sired the lowest possible grade; but the
| Engineer commissioner or the DlStflct mas
| figured that the grade selected (+S6.) viii
| result in the smallest amount of damages
| to property. At the same time, the new
/ grade will allow the grade OF North Cap
| itol street TO be raised and other like I'M
provements: and the location of the sta
/ ton as proposed will greatly Increase prop
erty values in what has long been practi-
caly dead territory. The Massachusetts
| avenue site also benefits the government
| printing office by removing the shifting
| and the consequent dust and smoke.
Finest in the World.
The new station will be the finest struc-
| ture of its kind i'm the world Its length
| will be 7GO feet. which is eight feet eight
| inches longer than the Capitol Itself; IT
| will be built of white marble, with the in
| terror of masonry; the classical style Of
| architecture will be used. and the building
will be so located and designed as to be
distinctly subordinate to the Capitol and
yet to take rank among the great public
structures of the District. The minimum
cost of the station has been placed at
81 600 COO, but the total cost Will be nearer
S5 100000.
The station is arranged for twenty-nine
tracks, with room for seven additional
tracks, thus providing for an indefinite flu
ture. The public convenience has been
studied, with the result that persons arrN-
ing or departing will be accommodated
without loss Of time, and a private en-
trance is provided for use Of the President
of the United States and for ceremonial
occasions. All street car lines win receive
and discharge passengers in close prox-
unity to the station. and ample accommo-
dations are provided for bodies of troops
and great delegations arriving or DEPART
ing at inaugural times or when other large
gatherings occur at the capital. In a word,
every provision has been made for a great.
dignifed, convenient, accessible gateway TO
the capital of the nation.
Ideal in Every Respect.
At the sam. time, the occupation Of pub
lie space set apart by Washington to give
dignity and beauty to the Capitol viii be
restored to public uses, and that great
thoroughfare, Massachusetts, avenue. which
under present legislation would be dishg-
ured by the construction of railroad via
duct, will be left free and open Every
question relating to beauty dignity ard
convenience has been carefully studied.
and while the initial expense of g union