Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-12-26
D Street Will Be Torn Up
and Surface ReIaid Eight
Feet Lower.
MOST OF LAND NEEDED
is ALREADY ACQUIRED
Grading and Paving Expense In.
clusion in Appropriation Bill
for 1882 Urged.

The tearing down of D street along
the frontage Of the District Supreme
Court grounds early next Spring will
probably be the first tangible sign that
the work of constructing Washingtons
new Municipal Center Is under way.
The street will be torn up and relaid
feet below its present level. This
job will also entail numerous other Jobs,
which will be executed contefnpo-
raneously. Sewers, water and other
service mains must be lowered to cor
respond to the new low Lowell, and the
levels Of other interesting streets must
be adjusted to the new level Of D street.
Pending Budget Use Sought.
Plans are now being worked out by
the municipal architects Office and
other interested engineer branches of
the District government to do these
grading and paving jobs out of the
$1,500,000 set aside from the Municipal
Center in the pending budget. After
the grading work is out of the way
the work of wrecking the buildings on
the site of the new courts building,
the first unit Of the Municipal Cen.
ter to be built, will begin. Then the
foundations Of this building, to be
located between John Marshal place, D
street, Third street, and Pennsylvania
avenue, will be dug. This is about as
far as the $1,5O0,00O win 20.
Engineer Commissioner John C. Got
walls is anxious to have detailed esti-
mates worked out by all Of the depart
ments so that the 81 SOC, 600 can be put
into the regular District appropriation
bill for 1892 instead of waiting for the
first or. second deficiency bill. It is
hoped that Congress will put this
$1.50O,000 on the Immediately avail
able" list of appropriations, so that
work may start as soon as the appro-
prlation bill becomes law instead of
waiting until July /, which is the OIL
cial start of the fiscal year for which
the appropriation will be made.
ALREADY approximately SO or 20 per
cent OF the land necessary for the en-
tire Municipal Center project has been
acquired, according to Assistant Engi-
neer Commissioner II. L. Robb. One
additional lot was authorized to be
bought by the Commissioners today. It
was lot e in square 500, which viii be
bOuS441 4OI S1o,UUU.
Thus far all of the property has been
pought by negotiation, at prices usually
100 per cent Of the assessed value. In
no case has it been necessary to 20 ia
condemnation proceedings, although
undoubtedly some of the property In the
remaining 80 per cent will have to be
condemned.
There Is already some work of
Wrecklng buildings going on, but this
Is not directly connected with the con.
Struction OF the new municipal center.
Three buildings are being torn down
10 provide parking space for District
employees whose bureaus have been
moved into buildings acquired In the
municipal center area. These are 400
Louisiana avenue, which Is now nearly
demolished, and 327-329 C street. where
the wrecking work has recently been
started. Five units of the District gov
eminent are already temporarily located
In the recently acquired buildings. They
are the Police Department, the Trafic
Directors Office, the City Refuse De.
partment, the District Employment
service and the Juvenile Court. The
first building to be put up will house
the Juvenile, Municipal and Police
Courts.
Gardens to Replace Street.
The reason for the lowering OF the
level of D street Is an architectural
one. The center of the entire mass
OF new buildings, INTELLECTUALLY, will
be the present District Supreme Court
BUILDING, fronting on the intersection
OF John Marshall place and D street.
In order to secure a better prospect for
this building from Pennsylvania ave-
nue., D street will be lowered, and
John Marshall place, now a street with
sharp grade, will be replaced by Q
court ornamented with pool, fountain
and gardens. )