Evening star., 1924-11-09

type.
AT comparatively moderate {
OF the main eastern approach to Ro
well versed in stadium construction
Brlghtwood Reservoir site stan,
people surrounding a field large en-,
Americas popular athletic pastimes
Such a. stadium would rank Wash
inston athletically with most of the
other great cities of the Nation. II
would excel the Polo Grounds and
Yankee Stadium of New York, be a
worthy rival of the famous Yale
Bowl and compare favorably with
Harvard Stadium at Cambridge
Princeton's Palmer Stadium, Ohio
state University's splendid structure
at Columbus. the new University of
Illinois stands and field. and the mu-
nicipal stadia of Baltimore and
Seattle.
1t would put Washington in a DO
sltion to accommodate the athletic
contests of national character that il
should rightfully accommodate. The
annual foot ball game between the
famous service schools at West Point
and Annapolis certainly could be held
IN such structure. There would be
ample room for the thousands of peo-
pie who now attempt to attend the
give the Capital of the United States
an opportunity to bid for the quad
rennlal Olympic games. the world
athletic classic, that will be denied
Washington unless modern accommo-
dations for such an event can be pro-
Vided here
The basin. which the city is ex-
pected TO receive in 1897, is sizeable
enough to be transformed into a sta
dunn with really little work, so en-
Slneers who have constructed huge
athletic stands and fields assert. At
the rim it measures S33 feet by 300
1eet and at the bottom $50 feet by
ZeI feet. 1t is from Is to 20 feet
deep. 1t is more than long enough
Tor an athletic field, but would have
to be widened and made deeper for
sunken bowl with stands for $4,000
people. foot ball field and a quarter
mile running track.
fhe most feasible plan, so the sta
ola engineers say, for conversion of
the basin into an earthen embank-
ment stadium, the type gaining
steadily in popularity, calls for the
removal or the west wall of the res
ervoir and the excavation of earth
approximately 20 feet below the pres
ent low level of the basin. This ex-
cavated earth could be heaped along
the east and north walls to make
proper grades for the tiers of benches
and used to build a mound for the
west side stands
Room for Large Field.
Stands of 100 feet width with a
drop of nearly 40 feet could be erect
ed along the east, west and north
sides OF the field and ample room left
for foot ball field if the base of the
left slope was located about 100 feet
west of the present west rim Of the
reservoir and approximately 20 feet be-
low the present low level of the basin.
The best stadium to build, the en-
gineers declare, would be the earthen
mound style. Earth is the cheapest
material that can be used in any con-
struction, it's cost generally depend
ing upon the distance it has to be
hauled from where it is excavated to
where it is deposited. For the pro-
posed Sixteenth street stadium there
would be no expensive hauling
Chutes could be erected and the earth
excavated to increase the depth of
the basin sent through them to east
and west embankments of the struc-
, ture.
y stadium with Longitudinal sides
paralleling the playing field and curv-
ing around only one end Of the in
closure is considered the proper type
for the proposed Washington struc-
ture by builders who have inspected
the reservoir type. They would leave
the south end clear. the contour of
the ground being such that less
earth would be needed to build the
west mound with that end open.
For seat and tread supports. con-
crete piers similar to those used in
the big stand at Catholic University
could be built. These piers. sunk in
the ground just few feet to get
them below the frost line are not 80
expensive and are admirably adapted
to supporting superstructure on filed
ground. At first, the slopes could
not be covered, but when the filled
earth had settled after a year or two
1T could be covered with a thin sheet
of concrete and water faucets for
cleansing purposes placed about the
rim of the bowl
Would Not Mar Vista.
In commenting upon the feasibility
of the stadium project, engineers have
particularly stressed two points. The
reservoir could be converted into a
stadium without the erection of un-
calmly superstructure that would mar
the vista The verdant embankment
now f1anking Sixteenth street for
hundreds of yards would have the
Sdbic dPpcdTdHCc dltcf tie DO"l WAS
built. The<>wooded areas of Rock
Creek Park to the west would not be
blotted out by a towering stand.
There would be no noticeable change
in the view from the street.
Also the location of the stadium
would assure excellent drainage.
Though sunk 20 feet below its present
1evels~fhe bottom of the bowl still
would be a trife above the ground
Immediately east and north of the
site and we'll above the valleys to the
south and west. .Dampness that has
made. poor playing spaces in several
of the large college athletic fields
about the country ought not to mar
Washington, the engineers aver.
In every way, the proposition of con-
verting the basin into a stadium
seems a reasonable one, but it will
require a goodly sum of money to
carry it through. 1t has been esti-
mated, however, that the cost would
be nothing like as great as that of
other stadia of the size as the one
proposed here.
Washington needs such structure
and getting that Brightwood Reser-
voir ought to mean one. With every
good Washingtonian putting his
shoulder behind the wheel, the idea
may be rolled into the halls of the
National legislature in a manner i'm
pressive enough, to cause those who
Columbia in their hands to loosen the
PURSE string and make the stadium
possible. Congress probably can be
induced to appropriate the necessary
money, but it is strictly up to the
people of Washington to do the in