Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-03-02
Report Submitted to Congress
by the Joint Commission.
WILL COST Sl,390,000
SCHEME FAVORED BY THE CON
SULTING ARCHITECTS.
Proposed to Move East Wall of the Cen
trail Part of the Building IL
Feet 10 Inches to the East

The joint commission of the Senate and
House for the extension and completion of
the Capitol building submitted its report
to Congress today.
The commission recommends the adoption
by Congress of what is known as scheme
"a" as to the extension of the central east
front of the Capitol and also recommends
the refaciug with white marble of such por-
tions of the present west front as are now
built of sandstone, the present design TO
be reproduced in every detail; replacing
with white marble the two broad flights OF
steps on the west of the Capitol from the
upper terrace to the front OF the empank-
ment where the garden begins, and placing
a sculptural group in the House pediment
to correspond in character, size and finish
with the sculptural work now existing In
the pediment of the Senate wing.
Estimated Cost $1,33O,OOO.
The estimated cost will be: East front
extension scheme "a" 10000; reproduc-
ing the west front in white marble, $780,
600; reproducing the west terrace steps IN
white marble, $4,000; sculptural treatment
of the east pedment of the House wing,
So, 600; total of 81 100000
by scheme -'A'' is contained In the report
OF the consulting architects, Messrs, Car
rere and Hastings. The report says:
I'VE respectfully submit plan "a as be-
ing in our opinion, the most conservative
and in every way the best solution of the
architectural problem INVOLVED In correct
ing the defects of this facade In Wnlch
Mr. Walter called attention in his report
of 1865. Realizing, as already stated, 'ild'
the composition of this facade, and es-
pecially the relation of wall surfaces TO
each other, should be changed as little as
Dossible we have moved the entire 1roht
of the central portion FORWARD; only 81
far as necessary to bring the main wall ol
the building, at the center, under the eA-
treme projection of the dome, and give
the dome the apparent support Whlch !.
should have. AT the same time, we nave
added one column on each side of the ma
pediment broadening the pedlment ac-
cordngly so that it will dominate the two
pediments of the Senate and House wings
which Mr.. Walter so strongly felt Should
be done.
Increased Space in the Building.
an this scheme no consideration has
been given to increased space within the
building and the problem has been solved
strictly according to the architectural ne
cessities of the case. Nevertheless, the
moving of the wall easterly IL feet 10
inches gives on the main floor to the east
of statuary hail a series of alcoves which
can be used to advantage for the addl-
tional storage Of documents, and to the
east of the Supreme Court a similar series
of alcoves back to the present screen for
retiring or robing rooms for the judges.
Similar alcoves would also be obtained in
both cases on the floor above which could
be reached from the central portion of the
building and used for various purposes.
These changes would in no way affect any
of the internal arrangements or even the
decorations on the main floor. In the base
ment this additional projection has added
to the size of the adjacent rooms, enlarging
and improving them, especially in the case
of the law library under the Supreme Court
In the central section of the building two
spacious rooms are obtained on either side
of the main entrance, with windows open
ing onto the portico, giving twelve addi-
tional rooms for committee or other pur-
poses, those on the first and second floors
being we'll lighted and very accessible.
I'VE strongly recommend that whatever
alterations are decided upon should be
substantially in harmony with scheme "A,
and that In no event should the central por-
tion of the building be made to project any
further eastward than projected in this
PLAN"
An Alternative Plan.
The architects have also prepared an al
tentative plan, which they term scheme
"B. y partly for the purpose Of demonstrate