Evening star., 1926-06-17
HUGE IT, S. BUILDING
URGED FOR CAPITAL
tkE
New Offices to House Depart
ment of Commerce Would
~ Be Largest Here.


The largest Government ofiice buiih-
ing in Washington. with floor space
approximatine million square feet In
area in a structure nearly twice the
size of the Treasury or Interior De
raltment Buildings. would he erec'e"
for the Department ri Commerce III
the area south Of r street between
Twelfth and Thirteenth streets nn-
der plans outlined to the Public Build
ings Commission and the Commission
Of. Fine Arts today by j. Wa"er
Drake, assistant Secretary OF com
merce All the bureaus and DIVISIONS
Of the Commerce Department would
be housed in this newest and larseSt
Of Government structures in Nash-
ington, Mr.. Drake told the joint meet
ing of the two commissions at the
Senate Office Building.
At the same time the two commits
Sions took under consideration the
location of and plans for new bulld
jns to house the Supreme Court OF
the United States and heard Justice
Willis Van Devanter. Justice Harlan
Stone and Justice Edward Terry san
ford explain the need of new struc-
,ure for the court. All three Supreme
Court justices agreed that the proper
location for a new supreme o"'
structure would be on site adJaceht
to the Library Of Congress ana the
Capitol.
Two Location Proposed.
location on First street north.
east between East Capitol street ana
MARYLAND avenue was discussed bH
the justices and members OF the TWO
cor,mjssions. and another location at
the west end of the Mall. west OF ril'
teenth street, near the site OF .he pro
posed Roosevelt Memorial. also "aS
discussed.
The question of a need for increased
facilities involving additlohal pu,iu
inrs at St. EliZabeth's Hospitai aiSo
was discussed by members OF the Two
commissions, discussion ceh'erins
largely around the query as 10
whether enlargement of the nosp.,a'
facilities properly comes "l.ni,l ,,;s .ne
scope OF the present public buildings
legislation.
Oficials to Study Plans.
The location and plans for the new
Commerce Department building were
left to he studied by officials or the
department and the architect or tne
Treasury Department, who recentiE
made public plans for construction OF
several Government structures soutn
Of Pennsylvania avenue.
The building, according to MAI. I.
S Grant. Sd. a member Of the Public
buildings Commission, would front on
r street and he approximately on the
line of the National Museum Building.
II would he on a north and south line
with the mai building of the Depart
ment Of Agriculture and would occupy
the area now used for the green
houses Of the latter department.. A
planning committee of the National
Capital Park and Planning Commits
sion two days ago recommended that
F. street he widened to so feet from
the Potomac River to the Capitol
grounds forming the northern bound
ary of the Mall, on which many OF the
new Government buildings would be
constructed.
Mai Grant pointed out that the new
structure proba bly, would he Of Ave or
six stories. or Ave stories with a. dunn
my attic for storing of files and equip
nent. and would ne adequate to house
all the now widely scattered activities
Of the Department OF Commerce. with
the exception of the Bureau Of Stand
ards. which now has it own establish
Saving in Efficiency Seen.
He added that the Treasury Build
Ing which covers the entire block be-
tween East Executive avenue and
Fifteenth street, contains little more
than 500. 900 square feet. while the
new Interior Building. erected in 1915,
has only a little more floor space.
Secretary Hoover said recently that
eight bureaus or divisions OF the Com
merce Department are now housed in
rented structures in Wa Washington,
while the. main building of the de-
partment. at Nineteenth street and
Pennsylvania avenue. is also rented
He declared that the saving in ef-
ficiency and loss of time hy housing
all the department bureaus under one
roof probably would pay the interest
on structure su fficiently large to in
clude the entire department. His an
nual reports have consistently
stressed hte need of new and larger
building.
The two commissions reached no
decision on the locat ton Of new
building for the Supreme Court. Maj
Grant explained that there was
question whether or not additional
land would have to he acquired to
erect such a structure.
He said the land on First street
between East Capitol street and
MARYLAND avenue would have to be
purcha sed. while the land in the Mall
Is now Government property The
present headGua rters of the National
Women's party. which was a hospital
in Civil War days. is locatet on the
First street site. While the Supreme
Court justices did not express
preference for location for tho new
courthouse. they felt. Mai. Grant sac,
that location near Tho legisia .Vf,
branch of the Government voi,id ~.
desirable. Ma. Gran! indicated thai
their views would receive considera-
tion when the Public Buildings Com
mission decides on a site for the
structure. The Supreme Court now
occupies a room in the center por.
tion Of the Capitol Building.
Members Of the Public Buildings
Commission expressed the view that
while completion Of the group of
buildings for the Department Of Agri-
culture is desirable the main struc.
iure must he completed before any
extensive additional building program
Is launched.
The Fine Arts Commission. after
IT'S meeting with the Public Buildings
Commission. went to its Offices In the
Interior building, where 1t will con-
slider this afternoon a design for flags
and hagstaffs to he erected on the
downtown streets. location Of new
building for the Police Court of the
L.