The Washington times., 1925-02-21

0OO, 900 each. One-third Of the total
or about $5O,OOO,OOO is to be ex
banded within the Distritc Of Co
lumbla. The projects to be under
taken are to be decided upon by
the Treasury Department.
A great archives building, to be
located in accordance with the Mall
plan, will be one Of the first build
ings started in Washington.
Archives Building Planned.
The Archives Building, or Hail OF
Records, probably will cost at least
81. O00, 900, it is estimated. The build
ing is to be of the library stack
type Of architecture and contain not
less than 5000, 900 cubic feet Of space
The structure is to be so designed
that it can be expanded when needed
to- an ultimate capacity Of about
5000, 900 cubic feet.
All records and documents from
ali Government departments and
bureaus, which are not needed for
daily consultation and reference, are
to be housed in the Hall of Records
In 1916, when the last survey was
made for this purpose, there was
805,007 cubic feet Of records avail.
able for immediate transfer to the
Archives Building. This has since
been enormously increased by the
war records and hhe subsequent
records which were not contemplated
at that time, such as income tax re-
turns.
Opening Of the Hall of Records and
transfer of records and documents
thereto will release a great volume
of floor space in all the department
tai buildings. The Archives Building
will contain reading rooms, where
students may examine the public
The site for the Archives Building,
as fixed in the report of the Public
Buildings Commission in 1917, is the
entire block bounded by Twelfth and
Thirteenth and B and C streets north
west. The building is to be in the
form of a hollow square, with a CEN
trail court, in which additions may be
constructed as there Is need for ex-
pansion.
New Agricultural Quarters.
The Department of Agriculture
probably will be the first Of the
departments to receive new
quarters under the building plan.
This department, now scattered
through forty-five buildings in Wash.
ington most of which are rented. will
be concentrated within its own
grounds.
The plan Of 1917 designates the
entire area between Twelfth and
streets and B street
and D street southwest,
along the railroad yards, with the
of the Mall strip down
the center, as the Department Of
grounds.
The first steps to be taken to
complete the Agriculture group will
be the construction Of the central
section of the main building, of
which two wings have already been
built south of the Mall, along B
street southwest, and a companion
building of like size north Of the
Mall between Twelfth and -Four.
teenth treets, south of B street
northwest, on which it will face.
the greenhouse and propagating
houses. which now stand. on the
proposed site OF the new building,
are 10 be moved to the south end
OF the departments allotted space,
at Fourteenth and d streets south.
west across from the Bureau OF
and Printing.
AS future expansion space is re-
CURED the wings of the main
building south of the Mall will be
carried across the present B street
which will be closed.
Three additional buildings are plan.
ned, two in the space between B
and c streets southwest, facing on
Twelfth and Fourteenth streets. and
one at Twelfth and D streets south
west.
Famous TriumVerate
The magnificent group of three
buildings for the Departments of
Justice, Commerce and Labor, to
stand In the three blocks between
Fourteenth and Fifteenth streets
and Pennsylvania avenue and b
street northwest, may be started
under the building plan, though no
definite steps have yet been taken
toward this end. Architects plans
for the three buildings have been
at a cost Of $4,000.
The Department of Justice is to
by Polls Theater and the group
of old office buildings now-used by
the Treasury Department, extend.
ing south to d street, across the
present site of e street, which is
to be closed.
Ohio avenue will be closed and
the Department of Labor's new
building will occupy the entire
square which 1t now crosses, be-
tween c and d, Fourteenth and
Fifteenth streets northwest. In
the block to the south, between B
and C streets, will stand the De-
partment of Commerce.
An Additional ID. G. Building.
The block south of the District
Building, between Thirteen-and-a-
Half and Fourteenth street, will
be reserved for an additional build
ing for the District government,
probably connected by a tunnel
with the present District Building.