Evening star., 1926-11-12
CITIZENS PROTEST
: ON HEATING PLANT
Petition on Mckinley School
Arrangement Is Prepared
for House Body.

A protest against the location of
the heating plant * the new Mckin-
ley High School at Second and +,
streets, on the ground that 1t would
be community nuisance in that
particular vicinity. was prepa red today
to be filed with the special House
committee investigating District af-
fairs when it resumed it's sessions
this afternoon.
The protest. In the form Of reti
ton signed by eight residents of the
lexington section. stated that the
District Commissioners apparently
are determined to ignore the best
interests of the people" and are go
ing ahead" with their original plan
instead of needing the recommended
tions Of the Fine Arts Commission,
some members Of Congress and others.
Wording Of Petition.
The petition as presented by r. II.
Alcorn. a sisner, follows:
Soon after the plans We're made
known protest was made to the Com
n1issioners and to members OF the
House and Senate committees on the
District Of Columbia. Many Of the
residents appeared before A commit
tee of the Senate committee on or
about June /, at which commissioner
Bell with Mr. Harris. the municipal
architect. was present. Members OF
the Senate present were Senators
Capper sackett and Copeland. At
this hearing quite bit OF discussion
vas had as to the reasons why the
heating plant should not he placed
at the point indicated in the plans.
at Second and r streets northeast.
the contract had heA let and that If
the plans We're to he changed we
would have to get the consent OF the
Fine Arts Commission. He pointed
out that they would have meeting
on June II. and suggested that We
have representative committee ap-
near before the Fine Arts Commits
sion to present our case there. This
was done. Aside from representatives
of the citizens Of Washington appear
ing before the commission, Mr.. Har-
ris. the municipal architect. was there
contendins that his plans be carried
out. However. after the members M
the Fine Arts Commission had made
q personal inspection Of the premises
and the arguments presented they
handed down A decision recommend
ing that the power plant and heating
plant be not placed at Second ana X
streets and that 1t be Joined with the
Langley Junior High School.
This same view was taken by
members of the House and Senate
committee on the District. and our
reople thought the matter had been
settled when Commissioner Bell wrote
n letter to Senator Sackett. June %,
insisting that the original plans he
carried out. Notwithstanding the fact
that the members Of the Senate and
House committees on the District
recommended that the plans be
changed and that the heating plant
he Joined with the Langley Junior
High School, which is in the same
block.
Later on in the Summer. toward
the last of August. the residents Of
the vicinity were very much surprised
to find that the plans IS proposed by
the municipal architect and Commits
sioner Bell We're being carried out. in
that steam shovels and the contrac-
tors we're engaged in excavatink in
preparation for installing the heating
plant at Second and r streets. Our
citizens appealed to the full Board
of Commissioners and were given
hearing on September S. and We were
led to believe, after the matters were
thoroughly discussed and the merits
and demerits Of the case were brought
out. that the plans would he changed.
However. later on A subcommittee
was appointed, consisting of an assist
ant engineer and two others. to con
slider the matter. and after consid-
cradle delay brought In report
recommending that the original plan
be carried out.
Ignored Best Interests.
1T is the firm belief Of the citizens
of lexington that the Commissioners,
the municipal architect and others
who might be concerned in this mat
ter have altogether ignored the best
interests of the people in our vicinity,
and we call attention to the recon-
mendation Of the Fine Arts Commits
sion. Senator Capper. Senator Cope
land and congressman Zihlman, Glib
son and Beers. who. after making a
personal inspection of the grounds and
the proposed location Of the heating
plant and considering the arguments
presented, they too. suggested that
the plans be changed. Yet with all
that has heen said and done to pro
tect the interests Of the residents in
the vicinity of the location of the
school in their health and property,
the commissioners are going ahead.
ignoring S il were. the best interests
of our people. We therefore apneal
10 tie members Of your committee
with tie hope that YOU will insist on
the commission changing the plans as
has been recommended and in this
way protect the interests Of the resi-
dents in the vicinity Of the school.
which will he far less expensive in
the long run"
Other signers of the statement are
p NJ. Miner, J. H. Trin1hle. William
r. Sheehan. William d Krankine
T. A. Sweeney. Mrs William r Cash
William G. Henderson and George F.
Tev.