Evening star., 1926-06-06
FOUR BIG FEDERAL
BUILDINGS WILL Be
! BEGUN HERE SOON
$6,000,000 to Be Spent in
First Year Under Plans to
Be Sent to Congress.
WORK ON STRUCTURES
TO START THIS SUMMER
Program Calls for Archives, Reve.
nue., Agriculture and Commerce
Offices and Additions.

UnceS ana AQQltlOuS.
Construction of four imposing new
Federal office buildings in the Ma
fional Capital. one for the Govern
ment archives. one for the Internal
Revenue Burea. one for the Depart
ment of Agriculture and another Tor
tbe Department of Commerce, will be
started this Summer under the hrst
wears allotment of the $4,000, 900
public building program for Washing
ton, announced yesterday at the
Treas sury.
Reconstruction of the present Lib
ertv Loan building, including the ad-
dition of two stories and the refac-
+. ing with stone of the entire struc-
ture. also is provided for in the esti-
mates for the initial outlay to be sent
to Congress.
Actual construction will be started
first on the Sc 900 900 archives build
ing, which, it is understood, will he
located probably in the square bound
ed by and c, Twelfth and Thir-
teenth streets. diagonally across from
the Post Office Department building.
This will involve the closing of Ohio
avenue between Twelfth and Thir-
teenth streets.
Estimates for First Year.
The estimates for first-year con
etruction work announced by Secre'
tary Mellon follow:
l. Archives building. $1,000.O00.
>. Internal Revenue, S1,10O,Oo0.
Crotal cost. $4,000
,14
cost. SS075 900, including purchase of
a building now rented, completion of
central part of present administra-
1ion building and erection OF a gem
eral office buldingD
4. Commerce, $500 900. (Total cost,
100000 .000)
;. Liberty Loan building, $500. 900.
Crotal cost. 500 000l
The firSt-year program also calls for
the purchase of additional land for
the Government Printing Office at
cost of $100,e90. looking toward the
eventual erection of a large addition
to the present building on G street.
$4,000, 900 for Year.
The total estimates to be made to
Congress for the first year aggregate
approximately $6.000.000. The new
public buildings bill. recently approved,
authorizes an expenditure of $50 0,O00.-
> 600 in the District of Columbia and
sI15. 600 COO outside the District. or
the latter amount $15,000,00O is au-
thoriZed in addition to amounts preNi-
ously appropriated for completing a
list of approximately 60 buildings out
side the district, leaving 500, ,000, 900
for expenditure for other projects for
eign to Washington.
Beginning of construction in the
ambitious program means the rear
ing, before long, of a stately group of
Government edifices fringinS the his
toric Mall, south of Pennsylvania ave-
nue..
Not far from the Archives building,
probably on the south side of B street,
between Thirteenth and Fourteenth
or Fifteenth streets, will be erected
the new home for the Internal Rev
enue Bureau
Commerce Building Nearby.
Directly across the street, in the
block bounded by B and G, Fourteenth
and Fifteenth streets, will rise the
pretentious Department of Commerce
structure. Farther to the south, across
the park, the Department of Agricul-
lures improvements will be executed.
The two marble wings of the existing
building will be joined as originally
planned, by a monumental central T.
shaped building. and another large
office building will be erected nearby,
possibly west of B street southwest
The rented building to be purchased
was not announced
The Liberty Loan building, adjoin-
ing on the south the new Bureau of
Engraving and Printing structure,
will he remodeled to conform with the
general eSthetic treatment planned for
the new Federal office buildings. The
addition of two entire floors will vir-
tually double the capacity OF the
building, and the new stone front will
keep the whole edifice in harmony
with its surroundings.
Archives Building Most Needed.
Because of the urgent need for a
fireproof home for Uncle Sans price
less records of war and peace, first
consideration will be given the new
archives building. The Government s
valuable documents concerning funda-
mental phases of the country's prog
ress, from great state papers to war
= records, now are housed in fiimsy
wooden structures. in cellars, in at
tics and in corridors.ever liable to
damage or effacement by fire or
other hazards.
Six primary reasons impelling the
Public Buildings Commission to favor
immediate construction of the great
hall of records" are: First. the doc
umentS must be preserved to keep
history straight; second. their. loss
might result in unjust claims against
the Government; third, their presence
in existing places constitutes fire
hazard; fourth, the records are proof
of Americas good faith to the world;
fifth, they show the advance of
science and serve as stepping stones
to further progress; sixth, they now
clutter up valuable office space.
Agitation for such a building has
been going on for nearly a quarter
of a century, with the urgency con-
stantly increasing, especially since
the World War.
Warned of Fire Hazard.
The Public Buildings Commission
has advised Congress that the fire
hazard in some of the Federal Offices
sis absolutely appalling, and SO
threateningly imminent as to subject
the responsible Government author
tiles to absolute condemnation of the
public at large for failure to provide
adequate. remedies for these condi
tionS."
The Internal Revenue Bureau is in
dire need of better quarters. More
than 40 per cent Of the space now oc
cupied by the bureau 5000 employees
Ia located in temporary wooden frame
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