Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-01-01
CONGRESS Acts FAVORABLY
ON d. G, BUILDING PLANS
Hoover Submits Budget Recommending
$47,SSO,228 for Municipal Improve
ments and $lO,226, 400 for Parks.


month has passed several important
bills and has considered others which
| are certain to be enacted within short
time. The bill authorizing appropria-
ton Of $9,740, 900 for erection of the
Supreme Court building went through
both House and Senate in record time
and has been signed by the President.
Acting promptly on the Elliott bill.
enlarging the public building program
by adding $115,000,000 to the total au-
| thoriZation in Washington and q SINH
lar amount throughout the country and
increasing from $35,000,000 to $50.000,-
600 the amount to be made available
each year, the House passed this meas
ure and the Senate committee began
considering 1t before the Christmas re-
cess. Chairman Keyes of the Senate
committee hopes to get early action
after New Year. This measure also
greatly enlarges the area In which sites
are to be acquired in Washington by
specifically allocating $15,000,00 for
purchase of sites, including the ground
now occupied by the Belasco Theater
and the Cosmos Club, privately owned
land in the triangle west of Seventeenth
street between New York avenue and B
street, and more than 80 city squares
south of the Mall from Delaware ave-
nue. to the Tidal Basin, bounded on the
south by Virginia and Maryland
! avenues.
President Presents Budget.
| AS the year drew to close the Presi-
dent transmitted to Congress the Fed
eral budget, recommending a total of
$4TS80,228 for the operation and i'm
provement Of the municipal govern
ment facilities, and recommendations
totaling 10,226, 400 for continuing work
on the group of physical Improvement
planned for the area surrounding the
Capitol, which will cost when completed
more than $30,000,000. The President
a few days later submitted supple
mental estimates for an additional
81 ,277,746 to be included in the legis-
drafted, for improvement of the squares
Immediately north of the Capitol
Grounds in the parkway development
to Union Station. This is in addition
to 1854, 1858 in the budget for the same
Capitol-Union Station Plaza develop
ment.
Just before the holidays Chairman
Simmons of the House subcommittee on
District appropriations, who was father
OF the legislation authorizing the ex-
penditure of the Districts accumulated
surplus for acquisition of the land be-
tween Third and Sixth streets north of
Pennsylvania avenue to Judiciary
Square for a municipal center, intro
duced a bill authorizing the Federal
Government to take over the present
District Building, which is needed in
the Federal building program on the
triangle south OF Pennsylvania avenue
to the Mall.
r This bill creates a commission to de-
termine fair valuation for the NUM-
cipal Building and instruct the Secre-
tary OF the Treasury to credit that
amount to the District, with provision
that 1t be used for q municipal center
building. The District government
would continue to use the present build
ing rent-free until q suitable new build
! ing is provided.
| To Expand Park System.
| One of the extremely important legis-
lative measures for making the park
| system of the National Capital the
finest in the world, with conservation
of the scenic and historic beauties of
Great Falls, the gorge of the Potomac
and the early engineering works of
George Washington and preservation of
the watershed for Rock Greek Park
designed to give the Capital City most
beautiful Setting-waS given impetus In
both branches of Congress-
This Is the Cramton bill, one fea-
ture of which Is the George Washing
ton Memorial Boulevard parkway on
both sides of the Potomac River from
Mount Vernon and Fort Washington to
Great Falls. 1t is a proposal that two
funds be made immediately available.
one of $7.000,0 900 for acquisition of land
in Maryland and Virginia and the
other of $16,000,000 for acquisition of
park and playground tracts in WASH
ington.
An Identical bill was introduced in
both House and Senate and received
favorable report from the House COM
mittee on public buildings and
grounds and was passed by the House
without dissenting vote.
Another measure which was ad-
vanced on its legislative way was q
bill authorizing an expenditure of
$685. 900 for preservation of Wakefield,
the birthplace of George Washington.
OF this amount $4,000 is for the Sec
statue and $4,000 toward building a
replica of the birthplace of Washing
ton. This would be added to a fund
being raised by the Wakefield National
Memorial Association, to which John
d. Rockefeller is a generous contribu-
tor. The Senate passed this bill few
days ago and the House would have
passed 1t under unanimous consent on
the day before 1t went into recess, but
for the objection Of Representative
Cramton, who wanted more certain
assurance that the plans for the replica
are historically correct. He emphasized
that after the holidays he will aid in
putting through this legislation.
Body to Act on Design.
Closely related to the Governments
plans for new buildings and other i'm
provements here Is the Shipstead bill,
which would authorize the Commission
of Fine Arts to pass upon the exterior
design of private construction work
facing the more important Federal
areas. This same bill was introduced
in the House. The Senate District
committee recently voted to report the
measure favorably and 1t is on the
Senate calendar.
The Senate in the latter part Of 1929
passed a resolution offered by Senator |
Smoot, chairman of the Public Build |
ings Commission, fixing July /, 1880. |
as the date for the closing of Center |
Market to make way for an early be- |
ginning on the new Department of |
Justice Building forming part Of /
the triangle development. This reso-
luton still requires House approval.
Since passage of this resolution Chair
man Capper of the Senate District |
legislative committee has decided to
introduce a bill to authorize new
Center Market.
Early In the year Congress completed
enactment of the authorization for
new Farmers Market to be located near
the water front in Southwest Washing
ton, replacing the Farmers Market
which formerly stood where the new
Internal Revenue Building is now be-
ing constructed.
The Dale-Lehlbach bill TO liberalize
the civil service retirement law has
been started on its legislative journey
again in the present Congress, having
failed to become a law after being