Evening star., 1934-11-12
Armory-Stadium Development.

The news in yesterdays Star that
there is possibility OF a grant of P. w.
A. funds to the National Park Service
for preliminary surveys and studies of
the long projected stadium and recre-
alton center development at the end
of East Capitol street is good news in
deed. While such development has
been in the minds of city planners for
many years, one interesting feature of
the new scheme is to combine with the
stadium development a National Guard
armory.
The District National Guard has
been pushed from pillar to post for
many years. Now the old National
Hotel, which is in the Municipal Gen.
ter site, and the Twelfth Street Y. M,
c. A. are the two temporary armories,
and it is only a matter of time before
there must be another moving day.
Within the past few years the Guard
has been chased from one temporary
location to another, and there is at
present no adequate storage place for
its property and no adequate drill
space. Many reports of the chief of
the Militia Bureau in recent years
have emphasized the fact that the
Government should provide suitable
quarters for the "federalized" National
Guard of the District, not only to take
care Of real needs here, but to set an
example for the States in building
quarters to store United States prop
erty and to house the National Guard
units.
Several years ago, when the Ma
tional Guard was faced with eviction
from the old L street armory, the
Public Buildings Commission was
asked to provide new quarters, and
the commission, in turn, requested
from the Attorney General a ruling
on whether the provision of such
quarters was a Federal responsibility
The Attorney General said it was
Before his death the late Maj. Gen.
Anton Stephan, commanding the
local Guard, laid before the Public
Works Administration a request for
a grant of 50, 500 900 for the construc-
ton of suitable armory for the Dis
trict's federalized Guard. There has
been no action on this request. but
within the past month the convention
of the National Guard Association of
the United States adopted a strongly
worded resolution instructing its Off
cials to call personally on Secretary
Ickes and present to him again the
real need for the armory in the Dis
trict.
The plans now under consideration
would combine, with the construction
Of a great stadium and athletic field
at the end of East Capitol street, a
suitable armory. This would settle
not only the problem of housing, but
would provide the essential space for
parades, drills and maneuvers. The
cost of land would be saved, as the
property, consisting Of some 1874 acres,
and facing on the recently developed
Kingman Lake-which would be util-
lied for aquatic sports-is already
owned by the Government. The Ma
tional Park Service, which, with SYM
pathetic encouragement from Mr..
Ickes, is already doing such excellent
work in improving the National Cap
ital park system, would doubtless
have much to do with this projected
development.
1t has been pointed out that much
of the grading and preliminary prep
aration would provide work for un-
employed, unskilled labor, and would
represent very practical form of the
useful work-relief that authorities
have been seeking.