Evening star., 1922-09-12
ARTS COMMISSION
TURNS DOWN SITE
FOR NEW BRIDGE
Exhaustive Argument Holds
New York Avenue Would
Destroy Whole Scheme.
WOULD SEVER AXIS FROM
CAPITOL TO ARLINGTON
Lincoln Memorial Location Best,
Communication Sent to Col.
Sheriff. Declares.

The fine arts commission has forward
ed to Col. c. o. Sheriff., executive
| officer Of the Arlington Memorial bridge
commission. an exhaustive discussion
| setting forth the reasons why the
bridge should start from the Lincoln
| Memorial rather than from New Yorl
| avenue. A plan for locating the bridge
at the latter point has been submitted
The Commission Of Fine Arts re-
spectfully advise that memoriaI
bridge of masonry, sixty feet of road
way and two sidew alks. each ten feet
wide. be constructed on line draw II
from the Lincoln Memorial to the
mansion house at Arlington, is the
conclusion reached in the report
signed by Charles Moore. chairman oil
the Fine Arts Commission.
Vital to Park system.
In reaching this conclusion the com
mission considered at length the plan
| for the improvement of the Wash.
ington park system as reported tc
/ the Senate in 1902. declaring that
| two vital features of the plan are the
| continuation of the park system
across the Potomac river to the newl!
| reclaimed lands stretching from Ana
| lostan Island nearly to the Highway
| bridge. and, second to unite two ma
! tional memorials. the Arlington GENE
terry and the Lincoln Memorial
The idea of the public mind. and
also embodied in legislation. is to
| create memorial bridge" Chairman
| Moore stated in his communication to
! Eng Sheriff.. ''Tc
change radically a plan which has
hof hn ha r
twenty years. to substitute n train,
bridge for a memorial bridge, is Sc
great an innovation as to call fof
cogent reasons" He points out that
the park plan of 1901 has been car
ried out in the majority of its Gle
ments. and that the change couiC
hardly be made to save expense. since
the bridge proposed at New York
avenue would be higher and consid
erably longer. The extension of New
York avenue, MIR. Moore AYERS, would
involve the destruction of one or two
valuable buildings of the Naval Hos
pital "and would take off go much
of the hospital grounds as to dis
member that institution"
Chairman Moore in the course OF
the report draws attention to the fac,
that the proposed bridge. 100 fee,
high at New York avenue, might
dwarf the Lincoln Memorial, whereas
become an important element in the
grand composition.
Mr.. Moore considers in detail the
seven principal arguments put up for
| bridge on the New York avenue
line. In answer to the first argu-
ment-that the bridg ge can be bull,
without a draw, whereas the large
amount of river traffic to the George
town wharves would necessitate a
draw if the bridge were built on the
Lincoln Memorial-Arlington line--the
Fine Arts Commission chairman states
that Chicago has built a monumental
bridge across the Chicago river at
Michigan avenue and both the street
traffic and river traffic there are now
many times as great as they are in
Washington.
The river traffic to Georgetown, he
declares, is carried on mainly in
towed barges, which could readily pass
bridge. He quotes records to show
that during the six months ended
September, 1921, a draw would only
have had to be opened fourteen times.
Georgetown Bridge Fills Gap.
To the second argument-that the
New York avenue bridge would con-
meet with the Lee highway-Mr.
Moore replied by stating that since
the government is about to open a
new bridge from Georgetown to
Rosslyn a second traffic bridge would
seem ito be unnecessary.
THE plane of the Lee Highway
Association show that proposed thor
oughfare as crossing the Potomac
river on the new Aqueduet or Key
bridge. A bridge on the New York
avenue line would have it's Virginia
terminal on the road running in front
of the Arlington cemetery. The me-
mortal bridge at the Lincoln Memo
rial site reaches the same road and
one would connect with the Rosslyn
terminal of the Lee highway as well
as the other" Mr.. Moore states.
The third point was that "either the
bridge must be subordinate to the
mortal must be subordinate to the
bridge, and of the two alternatives
the subordination of the memorial is
to be chosen."l In reply to this
Chairman Moore said:
1T Is not easy to conceive that such
a choice will find favor. Nor is it
necessary to make such a choice.
while it is true that the construction
of high bridge would dwarf and be-
little the Lincoln Memorial, a bridge
on the Arlington line would be an
important element in a great compo-
sition. The bridge would be subordi-
nate to the Lincoln Memorial only in
Ine Sense tlldl Tie Union station Is
subordinate to the Capitol, both being
parts in one grea scheme of capital
improvement and each taking it's ap-
propriate place in the scheme
Trafic Plans Arranged.
Considering the fourth argument
that congested traffic conditions
would be created by having the
bridge terminal near the Lincoln Me-
morial-Mr. Moore indicated that, on
the contrary, the Lincoln Memorial
was located and its surroundings were
planned SO as to care for the traffic
that would cross q memorial bridge.
The great circle around the memo
rial was planned with the bridge In
view. The circle, he said. like the
one around the Arch Of Triumph at
Paris, was designed as q point Of re-
union and departure for the roads
leading from and to East Potomac
Park and Rock Creek parkways and
to the memorial bridge.
Answering the fifth arEument-that
New York avenue extended would
open q passageway from Virginia to
the White House and the business
center Of Washington.Mr. Moore en-
avenue. while pointing toward the
White House and the business CEN
ter, does not lead to the business
center or through 1t, but to 18th
street. The change would bring ad-
ditional tr1hlc to the already con-
cested corner Of 18th street, he ex-
pfained. Extension Of B street its
full width to 23d street, on the other
hand, would be able to absorb trafnc