Evening star., 1933-10-07
D.C.LEADERSPUSH c.
MOVE TO PROCURE
%,9)O,o)O GRANT
fen Reasons Drawn Up and
, Dispatched to Ickes by
Commissioners.
INADEQUATE HOUSING
FOR COURTS BIG ITEM
Letter Points to Fact That Great
Inroads Into Unemployment
Would Be Made.

Ten briefly summarized reasons why
the Public Works Administration should
grant the District s4900,000 for con-
struction of the first unit of the Munic-
ipal Center were drawn up and for
warded to Secretary Ickes yesterday by
the Commissioners. They are:
/. Project has been authorized by
Congress.
2 Site is owned and cleared.
3. Plans are complete, ready for ex-
ecution, already approved by the Com
mission of Fine Arts.
4. District of Columbia activities ur-
gently require the facilities planned.
5. Project is strongly backed by local
sentiment.
g. A grant of s4soo.OoO requested is
but a reasonable value of the present
District Building. which is to pass to
the Federal Government.
T. Plans harmonize with the prof.
ected developments of the Triangle and
Capitol Grounds areas.
3. Local taxpayers are guarded
against a corresponding outlay, posi-
bly, of lesser magnitude, in another area.
g. Utilization is begun of the vast
real estate holdings tS6,500,0O0) pur-
chased by the District Government in
accordance with Federal desires and
the mandate Of Congress.
10. Important relief in unemploy-
ment is given in the District Of Colum-
bia as we'll as without the District.
In building of this type. fully rs per
cent of the cost is involved in pur-
chasing materials produced by labor
outside of the District.
Backs Former Request.
The letter was sent to re-enforce the
previous requests for this grant by the
Commissioners, and because, as they
said, the Commissioners felt the prof.
ect deserved further emphasis and
Qualification"
They wrote:
The housing of the various courts
of the District of Columbia and the
Police Department, now cared for In
adequately or in makeShift structures,
has been a compelling need for num-
ber of years. This need led to legisla-
tion some years ago to provide for a
courts building. This legislation was
municipal center for all District of Co.
lumbia Offices. This latter project was
developed in a way to require the pur-
chase of S6,50O00 worth of real estate
contiguous to the Federal Triangle.
The location of the area purchased,
consisting of the four blocks flanking
John Marshal place, is such as to call
for the same type of formal buildings
as are in the Federal Triangle. The
magnitude and quality of the buildings
therefore hinges directly upon Federal
aspirations for the development of the
Federal building program, and are far
h0yrn hn mi rio of
municipal government.
Need is Called Great.
At the same time. the Federal Gov
.ernment has adopted a program which
will diSplace the municipal Offices from
the present District Building at Four
tenth and E streets, opposite to the
Commerce Department Building.
In . all of this, and at this time
rather overshadowing all other features,
Is the urgent need for the housing of
the particular activities to go into the
first unit of the Municipal Center. If
not provided for in this unit in the
near future, the municipal government
might be forced to house these activ-
titles in building erected in another
locality permitting the use of less
costly type of architecture. The con-
struction of this first unit would, there
fore, in the immediate future result in
guarding District taxpayers from an
outlay for these activities. The cost of
the first unit is such as to be beyond
the capacity of local revenue at this
time or probably for some years in the
future, in view of other urgent needs.
Aid from the Public Works Admins
tration would therefore be manifold in
its benefits-not the least important of
which is the saving of cost to local
taxpayers offsetting the Federal taxes
they bear otherwise in financing the
public works program"