Evening star., 1927-03-20
!. v. c. A. BUILDING
!. OPENS NEXT WEEK
Dedication to Mark End OF
22-Year Campaign for
i, Adequate Center.

Dedication Of the new $635,000 actlv
Observation-Disclosures building OF th'
Young Women's Christian AssociatloI
at Seventeenth and X streets mex
Sunday afternoon will mark the cul
mination of % years efforts of WASH
tngton women to secure an adequate
center since incorporation of the DIS
trict Y. w. c. A. in 1905.
Reeinning with the dedication serv
ice at O'Clock the afternoon or March
27. a series of events have been az
ranged, continuing through AprlI z
at which the public of Washington
will be given an opportunity 10 De-
come better acquainted with tne itc'
tivities of the association. Follo"liiE
the formal dedication, "open-house
day" will be observed Tuesday, March
90, when a general reception VIII pe
held from to 10 o'clock in the eve
ming, and the friends of the assoclatlon
invited to inspect the new ouiidins
from basement to the root garoeh'
Cafeteria Opens March 80.
Other special days will be March
80. when there will be initial food serv'
ice in the cafeteria and sandwich
shop; March 81, membership night
April l. girl reserve day, and April 2
when the young business and profes'
sional womens department VIII pre-.
sent a three-act play, Prunella'
Membership night will be an attrac-
tion for Washingtonians generally
since an interesting program has been
arranged, including historical review
OF Y. w. c. A. activities. The program
II will hn hold from
4 to o'clock.
The site for the new building was
negotiated in February, 1925. and the
payment of $235000 was completed
in May of that year Mrs. Calvin
Coolidge laid the corner stone on May
"a, 1926, at exercises attended by
many prominent officials of the Dis
trict and Federal governments. besides
representative business and PROBES
sional men and women. The building
and equipment represents an outlay
of $685. ,000 making it one of the most
complete "Y" homes in the country.
Mrs. Wright Chairman.
Mrs. Fred z. Wright is chairman
Of the building committee, which has
for its other members, the president,
Mrs. T. E. Brown. Mrs. John B. Ken
dali, Mrs. Robert Lansing, Mrs. A.
Chambers Oliphant, Miss Bertha
Pabst, Mrs. William Adams Slade,
Fred E. Wright, Fl. c. Morris and A.
Chambers Oliphant. This committee
has worked constantly with the archi.
tect, Arthur b. Heaton; the builder,
William p. Lipscomb Co., and the dec
orator, Miss Mary Coggeshall, with a
result that every facility and conven-
fence is provided.
Easily accessible from the business
and residential districts, the new
building is a six-story structure with
roof garden, a basement and sub
basement. Its main entrance is on K
street, with a cafeteria entrance on
Seventeenth street. Bowling alleys
vided in the basement, while on the
first floor are the lobby, living
room, a large cafeteria, sandwich
shop and offices. Between the frs
and second floors there is &
nlezzanine writing room: on the sec
ond floor are the administra tior
Offices and auditorium, 5Ox5S feet
while on the third floor are the clut
rooms for the Girl Reserves and the
Industrial departments, offices for the
secretary, committee rooms and the
auditorium balcony. The fourth floor
contains the lower part of the swim
city, the club dining room, young bus
iness and professional women's de-
partment club roozas and Offices for
the secretaries
The swimming pool. 21X60 feet, is
located on the fifth floor, with ade
Quate lockers and dressing rooms, etc.
a health examination room, shampoo
room and Offices. The sixth floor con
tains the gymnasium, 50x7o feet. a
small gym for individual work, kitch.
enette, educational class rooms and a
public laundry. The gallery of the
gymnasium leads to the roof garden.
Gift of Mrs. Barker.
The auditorium is the gift Of Mrs.
William L. Barker as a memorial &c
her husband, the late William E. Bark
er. In memory of him, the association
has placed a bronze tablet in the audi
torium. This is the work of Mrs
Margaret French Cresson.
The swimming pool is a memorial
to the late DIR. Ada r. Thomas, for
many years on the board of directors
of the association, and is known as
the Thomas Memorial Swimming Pool.
The memorial gifts for this are not
yet completed.
The permanent organization of the
Washington Y. NJ. c. A. was effected
IN June, 1903, at which time rooms
were secured at Twelfth and F streets
and headquarters established there.
In 1915 the association building was
pronounced unsafe, so headquarters
were moved to the Federal Bank
Building at Fourteenth and G streets.
Feeling the need of permanent cen.
ter to house the administrative Off.
ces and recreational activities, the
Adams property on F street was pur-
chased and remodeled in 1919. This
building was used until 1929 when it
was sold, the association moving to
it's center on f street, which, up to
that time, had been used as a branch
building. Again in 1924 the lots on
which the w. G. J. Sloane Co. has
constructed its new building, were
purchased and sold when the space
was found to be inadequate. Thus in
Its % years history the association
headquarters has made five moves
eliminating in the fulfillment OF its
dream, an adequate building in har
mony with the architectural beauty OF
Washington.
At the present six centers are being