Evening star., 1932-10-16


L'Enfant saw. in the closing
years of the eighteenth century
i of great central park III the
heart of the American National
Capital is turning to reality in these
Gays of the twentieth century.
Late in 1871 L'Enfant made his plan
of the Federal city. In this l0-mlle
square on which new capital was to
rise the great French engineer. COM
panion in arms of George Washington,
projected the Mall. on the fringe Of
which he envisioned great public build
ings. Nearly a century and half later
these things are coming to pass.
Along the Mall the Freer Gallery Of
Art, the Smithsonian Institution build
ingS, the Army Medical Museum and
the Department, of Agriculture have
arisen on the south. while to the north
have pushed up from the earth that
great group Of Federal structures in the
public buildings program that is now
being conSummated in the Triangle.
These new buildings, in varying stages
of construction, form the northern
boundary of the Mall, with the New
National Museum.
The Mcmillan Commission
Senator James Mcmillan of Michi-
gan, chairman of the Senate Commit
tee on the District of Columbia, at the
turn of the century. secured the pas
sage by the Senate of a resolution di-
rectlng civic Improvement for the Ma
tional Capital. The Mcmillan Commits
! sion OF 1901, as this group thus created
has come to be known. mOdernized the
l. LEnfant plan to fit in with changed
conditions Through the good Offices of
| the American Institute of Architects.
which III 1900 held q symposium On the
esthetic state Of the National Capital.
the subcommittee of the District Com
mlttee secured the services of Daniel H,
Burnham OF Chicago. architect, who
had done outstanding work at the Chi
cago Fair: Frederick Low Olmsted. ir.,
OF Brookllne, Mass. landscape architect.
who recently retired as member of
the National Capital Park and Planning
commission; Augustus St. Gaudens of
New YORK City, eminent sculptor
Charies F: Mckim, architect. who like
wise had been associated with the Chi
cago Fair, although a New Yorker.
For its central element. the Mcmillan
Commission of 1901 chose the Mall axis,
arrived at by drawing a straight line
from the Capital to the Washington
Monument and beyond Museums and
public buildings were planned fronting
| the Mall.
From this planning. from these
studies. has emerged the present plan
sponsored by the National PARK ano
Planning Commission, still preserving
the essential features of the LEnfant
plan and the program of the Mcmillan
Commission Of 1901, by treating the
| Mall as unit.
Problems Created.
| And now. with the experience of these
generations agone OF engineers and
planners behind it, the Federal Govern
ment is moving forward with its pro-
gram to create four pretentious high
ways down the Mall. from the Capitol
| to the Washington Monument But it
has brought with it number of prob
! lens.
Tentative plans of the commission
! provide for the depressing of Twelfth
and Fourteenth streets between Con-
Stitution avenue and B street south
Bridges are to span these thorough
| fares, carrying the Mall roads over
head.
| And now the problem arises: Who
will pay for depressing Fourteenth and
| Twelfth streets? Who will foot the bill
| for the bridges?
! District Commissioners have rot obli-
| gated the municipality for the spending
of any funds on any part of the Mall
construction. Congress has made avail
able 100000 for the current years
work. and the National Capital Park
and Planning Commission is using this
! on moving trees out of the path of de-
velopment and the building of a cross
road, running northward from the cen
ter of the new Department of Agricul-
ture Building. as we'll as the two outer
roads in the Mall. between Twelfth and
Fourteenth streets. These highways
are now nearing. completion and should
be open to the public within a few
weeks
The next step will have to be de-
tormined shortly. The Treasury De-
partment has applied to the District
| Building for definite grades at Four
teenth and streets southwest, between