Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-11-09
Public Buildings Commission
Arranging Far-Reaching
Annual Program.
ARCHIVES BUILDING
FIRST TO BE ERECTED
More Agriculture Structures Next
in Order Under Scheme to
Save Rent Costs.

on public buildings in the National Cap
ital over long period with view to
housing all government activities in gov
ernment-owned buildings. as part of the
republican campaign for sound econ
ony' will be presented to Congress
when it reassembLes
public building program is now be-
ing drafted for Congress by the public
buildings commission. of which Senator
Smoot of Utah. is chairman. AS Sen
ator Smoot has for some time been
working on plans for a complete reor-
ganization of the federal service and is
10 ass st VIII II. Hays or whoever may
be selected to take charge of the pro-
posed reorganization. the building pro-
gram viii dovetail in with the general
economy program.
Archives Building Planned.
The first buirding to be erected viii
be an archives building the need for
which has been emphasized upon
Congress for many years. 1t is pro-
posed that this building shall be
erected on the Mall. with decorative
exterior. and to have 100000 cubic
feet capacity.
The edection of the archives build
ing would not only provide a safe.
fireproof storage place for the mil
lions of valuable and historic docu-
buildings, some of which are called
fire traps" but would at once re-
! lease valuable office space in prac-
tically all the government-owned
buildings. The war risk bureau. the
State, War and Navy building. the
Treasury and the general land office
are some of the places in which the
accumulation of records and papers
are blocking the wheels of progress.
The plan is to allocate space in the
archives building to each government
eSta bliShment.
The location of the proposed new
government buildings under the com
missions program now being pre-
pared for Congress will follow along
the general lines recommended by the
fine arts commission.
New Agricultural Buildings Likely.
! 1t is probable the program Will
! recommend some new buildings Tor
| the Department of Agriculture. The
various activities of the department
are scattered widely and many of
J them in rented buildings. The pro-
posal is to assemble them into one
homogeneous group.
The public buildings commission
is also working on a program for
early removal of the temporary war
work buildings. The Council of Ma
tional Defense building, i'm the rear
of the ID. A. r. building, is to come
down at once. The commission has
already provided space for the occu-
pants of this building elsewhere, and
most of them have moved out.
The Corcoran Courts, in the rear
of the American National Red Cross
building, is to be razed early next
summer. The A and b build
ines. at 6th and 3 streets, are to come
down at an early date. That is about
all that has yet been determined.
Building "A" is on the site which
Congress has Set aside for the George
Washington Memorial building. and
which it is now proposed viii be
turned over for the site of the five
million dollar War Memorial building
and public auditorium given by the
knights of Columbus to the American
Legion as clubhouse for all veter-
an organlZa uonS.
Rent Charges Already Reduced.
The public buildings commission al
ready has cut down the rent roll for
government activities in Washington
half million dollars a year. 1t lays
claim to being a real economy COM
mission because after having func-
toned for more than nineteen months
it still has more than half of its orig
inal appropriation of SO 00o.
The members of the commission are
Senators Smoot. Utah. chairman. and
Swanson, Virginia; Representative
Langley. Ky, and Clark, Fla: Maj
Clarence s Ridley, officer in charge
of public buildings and grounds: Ell
lott Woods. superintendent of the
Capitol. and J. A. Wetmore, acting su-
pervising architect.
The leaders in both branches OF
Congress are committed to program
of housing the government activities
in government owned buildings, and
the commission does not anticipate
any serious opposition to the adoption
of the program now being drafted.