Evening star., 1933-07-30

OOulO I1OOfCI lclO Oc lOcl lOI dL POI
purposes or fall into the possession of
other than the new owners OF Washing
ton Airport, the joining of the two prop
critics may become an impossibility. In
this event, the Department Of Commerce
may feel in duty bound. as a matter Of
public safety. to close Washington Air
port to transport operations
Eoover Field, though the smaller Of
the two sections. is the elder in point Of
service for flying purposes. 1t was the
scene of the Capitals first commercial
dying when the present Washington Air
port was a swamp -bordered race track.
The property consists of about 37i2
acres between Military road and the
Potomac River. Upon this land have
BEEN erected brick airport terminal
building and two large sheet metal
hangars, one containing we'll equipped
airplane and engine repair shop.
The consolidation Of Washington Air
port and Hoover Field in physical fact
long has been the aim Of a strong group
in Congress and in the National Capital
Bills have been introduced in the Senat 2
and House from time to time seeking to
bring about this end. Notable among
these we're the Bingham bills in the last
Congress, upon which exhaustive hear
ings were held early this year.
1t was the purpose of these bills to
bring about acquisition and operation of
the two properties as governmental
airport, one through leasing. the other
through outright purchase Of the lands
involved. Both bills were pending when
Congress adjourned.
Should the new owners Of Washing
ton Airport and Hoover Field elect to
operate thsm as a single airport, they
probably will not find it dif1icult to
bring about the consent of Congress to
the closing of the section Of Military
road between the two properties. Clos
ing Of the road has been blocked in the
past by reluctance on the part Of the
owners of Hoover Field to have the only
access by land to their property cut of
Situation Is Serious.
Tomorrow's sale is fraught with Sc
rious consequences, since no modern
city can afford to be cut of the air
transport lines which day by day are
entrenching themselves more deeply in
the battlefield of every day life. Fast
transportation and communication is
the life blood Of modern society and
air transportation is certain to become
increasingly important to the public as
time goes on.
That the Washington Hoover area
is the most advantageously situated
piece of ground for airport purposes
in the vicinity Of the National Capital
and that it Is closer to the heart Of
the city than any municipal airport
in the country is to the center Of the
city it serves, long has been recog-
ni2ed.
This fact was vigorously stated dur
ing the course of the last hearing on
the matter carly this year, when Sen
ator Bingham replied to a question as
to whether there is any other tract OF
land as advantageously situated Tor an
airport as Washington Hoover by Eay-
ing:
gressional Commission on Airports went
into the matter very, very fully. We
had the engineers examine every avail
able tract of land within radius OF
Is miles of the Capital. There are
other places which seemed very ia
vorable for certain purposes. such as
Camp Springs site. which was men,
toned in the report Of the commits
sion, but that is a good many miles
from Washington. It takes Is min
utes CT so to come into the city from
there. and while it might be used some
day in the nature of field for storage
hangers, like railroad yards. the COM
mission came to the unanimous con-
clusion that the Washington Hoover
Airport site offered the most favorable
and unprecedented ground facilities 10.
a very fine airport"
Would Cost Ss.5oo.0o0.
It has been estimated by Edwin A..
Schmitt, senior engineer OF the United
States Engineer Once. that to fully
develop Washington Hoover Airport
and available Government-owne prop
critics adjoining as modern, complete
ly equipped airport, over q three-year
development period. would cost $3.556.-
600, including land cost Of 81 500 900.
The work would be rendered more dim
cult and costly by reason Of the neces-
sity for always keeping open sumcient
areas to make possible continuance Of
flying operations The maximum an
ticipated size of Washington Hoover
Airport Is 204 acres. This full area
probably cannot be realized under pri-
vate ownership without the fullest pos
sible Federal cooperation.
The question of any future Govern
ment development Of the airport on
this site. however, has been greatly
complicated by the sale Of the airport
properties, especially in the event they
should no into different hands and be
developed for other than airport pur-
rfSses.