Evening star., 1926-09-17
Believes Location Ideal for
Construction of Proposed
s10,0OO,OOO Building.
MIDCITY MARKET PLAN
FAVORED BY SECRETARY
Declares Area Near Center of Por-
ulation Best for Consolidating
All Branches.
BY WILL p. KENNEDY.

Erection of the new SO 0,00o.o0O De.
partment of Commerce Building on
Pennsylvania avenue between seventh
and Tenth streets, which site is now
occupied by the Center retallt Mar
ket and the wholesale market sec
zion, and coming under the Jurisdic-
ton of the Department of AGrlcul-
ture, meets with the approval ot Dr'
William NJ. Jardine, Secretary OF AZ
riculture.
,Chis assurance was given today
when DR.. Jardine declared hlmseH III
favor of relocation of the ehtlte
market system, Including ret"h'
farmers and wholesale sections III
new model market center on 'He iill"-
city site bounded by sixth street Ne"
York New Jersey and Massachusetts
avenues. He stated he is willing To
Withdraw from the present market
location. as he believes an oven he'-
for market center, nearer the center
of nopulation. can be eStah!lSheu III
the midCity area, and that the 'ii
sy1vania. avenue site is an ideal one
for any great Government depart
ment. -
AS the Fine Arts Commission anu
tho Citv Planning group have decldeu
that the farmers market ana the
wholesale market must 80 now anu
tho retail market eventually. Dr. Jar
dine saws that now is the loglcal tll''
to establish a model market Slpup
nroperlv co-ordinated. when couIu
not be done if the various sectl9hs
are moved piecemeal. AS the Pi"n
of the Public Buildings ConnlssioI
and the Fine Arts CommlSSloii' an
oil those who are interested in the ne
,,alonnent of a beautiful Capital cltN'
;s to 1Ise the triangle south or Penh-
cvlvania avenue, in which the market
is now operatinG, for pubic bulldlhSa'
ond a start has been made tneIe "h
the S5O,OO0, 900 program NJ
Iiayes that now is the logical time 10
yacate such a commanding loca.Ioh
which some great department OF Gov
ernment should occupy.
.Jardine's Opinion Weighty.
Dr Jardine pointed out that the To-
,tin,, of the Commerce Building
comes within the province OF the
Secretary of Commerce, nut ne
stressed the fact that if lie were seen
inr, a site for Il new home Ior the u
nartment of Agriculture ne Woulu
consider himself extremely lori uIii.e
to get the area between fehhSE iEdiii"
avenue and The Mail. %
This s1pport by the Secretary {"
Aericulture of an ideal solution OF the
;n1erJockinC problem of locating tne
now commerce Building and estao'
fishing a model market center, "hlch
nromises to be one of the most III
nortant steps in the entire hlStoi vi
the National Capital toward carr EihS
ont the plans of Gen. Washington anu
Mai. L'Enfant for maGnincei. ~
nue. from the Capitol 10 the Nhlt
House. lined by imposing eu,i%i
Lu;ldinps and preservation of the MalI
anyirons. is particularly Significant TOT
three reasons: First, Secretary jar
dine officially opposed placing the new
Commerce Building or any depart
ment building on the Mall: Secohu' tHe
existing Center Market comes ihuei
his administration, and thru, ne - ny
official representative OF the lhtcIe
of the farmers, whose market slte =
being taken.
Fayors Mall Preservation.
Dr Jardine acquiesced in the plans
of tho public Buildings Commission
aud the Fine Arts COMMISSION Tor
consolidation of the Department Oh A.
riculture buildings south or tne pre-
ont marble wings and running narh I"
the railroad tracks on the line o1 MAJ
land avenue. in order that the lhteS.I.S
of the Mall might he preserved fo,
against the location of the new 'oih'
nnerce RuiIding on the Mall. or the
encroachment of other public hulld,
incs and his protest was ConSldeIt"
h,, the Fine Arts Commission in eXecu-
tive session yesterday.
President Coolidge also declared en-
phatically against encroachnent ol
nublic buildings on the Mail ~
Iardine emphasizes that it is a rldlcu
tn Congress
vear for $500 900 of the Sl,lOO.OOO au-
tborized by act of Congress for the
purchase of additional park land for
the National Capital. and at the same
time To be steadily cutting into the
eyisting park space for sites for pub
Iic buildings. He believes that THESE
omen spaces should be preserved Tor
the future generations, when city con-
eestion becomes more acute.
Nv snecial act Of Congress. which
took the Center Market away from
the Washington Market Co. the Sec
retarv of Agriculture was made the
official administrator Of the center
Market for the people OF the Natlohal
Capital. for the purpose of making IL
a demonstration school in which ex-
perts could make practical and con
stant study of all the economies tnat
enter into the handling of food sup
pies DPtWSSn the Ia CHuS'i N'iN 49,
consumer.
Question Must BE Solved.
The question of a new market cen
ter for Washington, which has been
intermittently considered for mare
than a quarter of century, with
occasional recommendation by the
Public Buildings Commission. the
Fine Arts Commission. the District
commissioners. citizens associations
and other interested agencies. has
come up now for a decision due to the
fact that the present farmers market
site, specifically set aside for this pur-
pose by act of Congress more than 90
years ago, as a partial solution OF
unsatisfactory market conditions that :
even then existed. is now to be taken
as part of the site for the new In'
ternal Revenue Building. between
Tenth and Twelfth, Il and G streets.
In the discussion of Il proposed site
for the new market center. Secretary
Jardine finds that all other interests
at stake have been receiving more
careful consideration than those Of
the farmers, and on analyZing the
arguments advanced for certain lO.
cations he finds them voiced by per!