Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-06-08
FIGHT OVER SITES
FOR WAR AND NAVY
BUILDINGS IS DUE
Architects Named to Begin
Plans for Army Edifice
in Northwest.
MUST FIRST DETERMINE
DEPARTMENT SPACE NEED
Final Decision, With Objections of
Wood to Excessive Costs"
Rests With Congress.

/ With controversy looming over the
proposed site for new buildings of both
the War and Navy Departments, the
+, Treasury Department today proceeded
to select architects for the War Depart
ment buildings only, in order to make
a report to Congress in December on
estimates of cost.
| Holabird & Root Of Chicago and
Harvey Wiley Corbett of New York
! CITY were named as associate archi-
| tects" for the War Department group
Controversy over the site appeared
! assured today following the announced
! opposition of Chairman Wood OF the
House Appropriations Committee to the
site selected by the Public Buildings
! Commission for both the War and
Navy groups in the area between Con-
stitution and New York avenues, Eight
zenith and Twenty-third streets.
Hits Excessive Cost"
Representative Wood strongly opposes
! this location on account OF Its "eXces'
| sive cost" including several new build
/ ings. He favors location in the South
| west. bounded by D street and Virginia
| and B street on the north, Second street
/ on the east and Seventh street on the
west, as more appropriate from city
planning point of view, and more rea-
sonable in price.
| The Public Buildings Commission In
| its decision following previous lone
| controversy over the proposed location
placed both the War and Navy Depart
ments in the area between New YorR
: and Constitution avenues, but the Treas
ury Department today selected archi-
tects only for the War DepartmeEl
! structures, leaving for the future tbs
work on the Navy Department.
The first thing which the newly appoint
| ed architects will do. according to As
| sistant Secretary of the Treasury Heath,
will be to determine the space needs
of the War Department. The War De-
partment. it has been estimated will
use much larger space than the Navy,
SO studies will be started on this depart
ment first. Other architects probably
[ will be selected later for the Navy.
Congress Must Give OK.
Although the Public Buildings Com
mission selected the site west of the
/ White House and in the Northwest sec
| ton of the CITY for both the War and
| Navy groups, Congress must give specific
! authorization for them, and appropriate
money for their construction. Pending
this specific authorization, preliminary
| contract is being made with the new as
| sociate architects. according to the OIL
! cial announcement by Secretary Mel
| Ion. and the architects will make
! studies and sketches as basis for esti-
mates of cost and specific legislation"
/ In view of the action of the Public
| Buildings Commission 1t will. OF course
| be necessary for the architects to study
! first this section, with view to seeing
how the War Department Building
space needs may be met in such an
area. But, it was learned today, In
! addition to this, the architects also
| probably will make studies and pre-
| liminary sketches of other areas, such
as the Southwest site. favored by Rep
resentative Wood. This would enable
the Treasury to present a more COM
plete picture Of the needs of the War
! Department and how they can be met
| to Congress when it meets in December
! Among the problems which the new
| ly appointed architects face will be
whether the War Department should
! go in one big building or several
buildings. If several buildings are
found desirable, the question would be
how to segregate activities of the de-
l
buildings to conform to street arrange
ments, which now cut up the area into
not only several square blocks. but
smaller triangular spaces. The matter
| CT park space which should be left In
such a treatment of the great depart
lnents of defense is also said to be
commanding question. In the Federal
triangle being developed to the east OF
the White House between Pennsylvania
avenue and the Mall, 1t was pointed
out today, there are two great open
areas provided, the grand plaza and the
great circle, to give adequate open
and park space, and to provide appro-
| pirate settings for the magnificent and
monumental structures being erected
there for departments of the executive
| branch of the Government.
Future Of Avenue.
What to do with Virginia avenue ir
the area set aside for the Departments
of Defense will be another puzzline
question. Will this avenue in the future
be a principal artery of traffic, to help
carry off the load of Government per-
sonnet being concentrated there, or viii
Virginia avenue become of so much less
Importance that it could be blocked on
| entirely eliminated, and turned into
either building sites, or public park:
Would some of the other streets in the
| area lend themselves to elimination 1l1
| the interest Of more building space:
These are some of the perplexing ques-
tions which must be solved.
The War Department itself will, Of
| course. furnish basic information or
the amount of space it will need IN Its
new home, and the architects will gel
a fund of facts from this angle before
they begin to study the size of The
building. it's division into several Struc'
lures, or the conformation.
With virtually all the other big fea'
lures of the Governments public build
ing program here past the preliminary
stages and passing into actual construc.
ton, interest in the National Capita
conferred today more than ever on What
will be done with the great Depart
ments of War and Navy. The state
ment of Representative Wood in direct
opposition to the selected site aroused
much interest among all circles con-
cerned with the future of the two big
departments. The promise OF Repre-
sentative Wood that he will take ur
the whole question with the President
upon his arrival here from Indiana the
latter part of this month stirred much
speculation as to the eventual outcome
Meantime, the Treasury Department
pushed forward with its responsibilities:
of preparing report for Congress.
|
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