Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-08-31
PLAZA PLAYGROUND
RETENTION URGED
ON DISTRICT HEADS
Mrs. Rhodes Hopes CapitoI
Identification win Not
Destroy Site.
CHILDREN FROM ENTIRE
CITY ARE BEING Hell. PED
Supervisors Annual Report Sta
tistics Show Thousands Enjoy
Opportunities for Recreation.

A plea for the retention of the Plaza
Playground, when the plans for beau
tifying the Capitol Plaza are perfected
Is made by Mrs Susie Root Rhodes, SUI
pervtsor of Fairgrounds, in her annual
report, forwarded yesterday to the Dis
trict Commissioners.
Since the modern trend is to pro-
vide space in the parks OF the country
1t is recommended that when the pres
emf Plaza Playground Is Temodeled to
conform with the Identification plan
OF the Capitol Plaza, the athletic field
be retained for the use of the play
ground children" she wrote. 1T is
used constantly by the neighhOrhood
children and all of the city-wide events
are held in the Plaza because of its
facilities and central location.
ROsedale Playground Inaccessible.
Should this field be lost to the chill
dren of Washington, playground leaders
would be in a quandary as to where the
city-wide activities would be held. The
only other playground suitable for the
championship events Is the Rosedale
Playground, which is not equipped with
a track, and which is in the extreme
northeast section of the city. Access
sibility has been a great factor in the
use of the Plaza, as practically every
street car and bus line of the city
feeds to this location, due to Its prox-
unity to the Union Station. R0sedale
is very inaccessible
Wading pools for children are also
strongly urged.
"A visit to any of the six now In
operation would convince the most
skeptical that these little swimming
holes provide more pleasure and COM
fort for the small children of the city
than any other playground feature
One should be in every municipal play
ground Our three playground swim
ming pools are taxed to capacity from
opening to closing, and the principal
users are those who i've in the imme-
date neighborhood. From this 1t can
readily be seen that many neiahbor-
hoods are in need of place to swim
and to learn to swim but are deprived
OF the convenience"
Statistics Are Surprising.
Mrs. Rhodes statistics on the activ-
tiles of her workers and the children
under their supervision are truly sur.
prising. She states in the report that
there are 30 municipal Fairgrounds
open all year and 43 additional school
Fairgrounds open during the Summer;
more than 5000 youths and adults took
part in the horseshoe tournament con-
Quoted in cooperation with The Eve
ming Star; more than 1900 boys took
part. in preliminary tennis matches;
about 900 girls took part in the girls
tennis doubles; $500 girls participated
in track and field meets; Alto eleme3-
tary schoolgirls played in the dodge
ball leagues; there were 300Atean1s In
the schlag ball league, and so on.
On the sociological side Mrs. Rhodes
wrote: Delinquency is closely related
to the use of leisure time. The kind OF
opportunities afforded children after
school and during vacation days has
an appreciable effect in. determining
whether they are to be law-abiding
young citizens or juvenile delinquents
1t is important that those who are
charged with the purchase of play
fields do so as rapidly as possible
When this need has been filled then II
is well to buy for future use in out
lying sections, where land is obtainable
at acreage prices. Fairgrounds can be
made spots of beauty by keeping each
as part of park This would not only
add to the beauty of the city but
would make the play fields more at
tractive to those who use them"
The report, which was the nineteenth
annual report of the department, was
the fifteenth signed by Mrs. Rhodes.