Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-21
Disappearing landmarks.


With the fall of the second and taller
smokestack of the old electric light
power plant at Fourteenth street and
Constitution avenue, the destruction
work in the Mall-Avenue triangle
preparatory TO Government building
operations passes dramatic high point.
This towering steel chimney has been
an unsightly nuisance for good many
years and its going occasions no regret
whatever. It was Enthusiastically hard
to level, resisting numerous blasts OF
dynamite, and the operation requiring
about eighteen hours, ending only In
the night. With this stroke the work
of clearing the site Of the Labor De-
partment Building is almost completed.
The space to the east allotted to the
Interstate Commerce Building stands
ready for foundation operations That
at the northeast corner of the same
section of the triangle, which will be
occupied by the Post ONCE structure, is
now in the hands Of the wreckers and
that will soon be available for actual
construction work, provided the street
car track problem is solved speedily.
There now remains to be swept clear
Of buildings in the area Of the inme-
date program of Government construc-
ton, between Seventh and Fifteenth
streets, only the squares between Tenth
and Eleventh streets, that to the west
between Eleventh and Twelfth occupied
by the present Post Once Department,
that on which the former Southern
Railway Building stands, the irregular
squares between the District Building
and the Justice Department site. and
possibly the District Building itself. OF
these, only the last named, the munic-
ipal building, is of Importance or public
interest. It is not yet determined how
It win be treated in the development
of the Governments building program.
1t is hoped by many that it will be per-
mitted to remain, as 1t is one Of the
most attractive structures now standing
IN Washington, and its destruction,
even for the sake Of q more harmonious
architectural development In the tn
angle, will be greatly deplored.
As for the Post once Department,
now standing between Eleventh and
Twelfth streets, there viii be no regret
whatever for its passing. 1t Is doomed
to go as soon as its successor Is COM
pleted on the site Immediately to the
west. It's destruction viii be one Of
the most difncult Jobs Of all in the
Mail-Avenue triangle. It seems a pity
from an economic point Of view that so
substantial and 80 efficient a public
building should be RACED. 1t is good
for many decades to come as far as
durability goes. But it is decidedly ''out
of the picture" 1t was never regarded
highly as an architectural creation. 1t
strikes a gloomy note, and, taken alto
gether, its disappearance will be vel
coined even as was the falling OF the
final smokestack on the power plant site
last night.
SO the landmarks are going and
downtown Washington is presenting
some new vistas and Offering COM
pletely changed aspect. The space
north of the Commerce Building. for
example, is an unfamiliar and refresh
ing scene. Washingtonians Of long
residence rub their eyes in wonder as
they pass this spot, and as they go on
down the Avenue they find other
changes that. even though noted before,
continue to amaze and IN the main
crafty them. Soon another change
viii take place in the area that is TO
be occupied by the Municipal Center
and more familiar landmarks will dis
appear and space viii be opened that
has not been cleared for a century and
| a third.