Evening star., 1934-01-27
0[DP. D. BUILDING
WILL Be RENOVATED
Use of Shelter for Other U. S.
Agencies Probable, In
str I'D of Razing.
BY JAMES WALDO FAWCETT.

JhNALS "aLDo
A long and hard-fought campaign
TO eliminate the old Post Office De-
partnent Building from the city sky
line has received a temporary setback
by reason of a decision to renovate
the structure and use it as a shelter
for other Government agencies when
the present tenants move across
Twelfth street to their new quarters
But proponents of the plan to re-
move the So-called "eyesore" are not
discouraged. On the contrary, they
know that the site is needed for the
further development of the greater and
more beautiful Capital design. Hence,
1t Is inevitable that they will achieve
victory in the end.
Meanwhile. there is need for i'm
mediate accommodations for various
phases of the new deal machine and
the Public Works Administration has
allotted $90,840 to the Office of Ma
tional Parks, Buildings and Reserva-
tionS, Interior Department. for "im-
provements,' including repainting of
the inner surfaces of the edifice, four
modern elevators and a connection
with the Government central heating
plant. A much larger sum would be
required to restore the building to an
approximation of its original condition.
Structure Never Popular.
The structure never has been popu-
3ar. 1t was a product of a period when
architecture in America was at a. low
ebb. The designer is supposed to have
declared that the conception came to
him in dream, but critics have said
that it must have been nightmare
Criticism Of the design was Ineffective
apd the edif1ce was authorized as
y&etched. An act of Congress- dated
June IS, 1890, gave the supervising
architect Of the Treasury license to pro-
ceed. The site. described as Square 1923.
bounded BY Eleventh, Twelfth, C and
D streets cost S655 ,490.77, but addi-
tional expense was involved because
OF the necessity to sink thousands of
wooden piles in the ground to support
the fabric
Building operations, costing $685.
S35. continued intermittently for nine
tedious years. during which time a
series of scandals developed to further
retard progress 1t was not until mid
night, September 30, 1899, that the
premises were turned over to the Post
Ofice Department. The transfer took
place under circumstances of tragedy
and sorrow. While contractors debris
was being carried out and furniture
was being carried in, former Post
master James P. Willett stumbled and
fell through an unguarded elevator
door. His body was found at the bot
tom of the shaft. The accident con-
drmed the dislike of many for the
gloomy "Gibraltar of ugliness"
Degraded Romanesque Style.
Theoretically, the building is of
Romanesque style, but actually it is
only a degraded adaptation of that
order. 1t has been criticized as "pon-
derous and heavy" whereas true
Romanesque architecture invariably is
conspicuous for nobility and grace.
One possible explanation of its op-
pressive bulk is that Of its reflection
OF the influence of Henry Hobson Rich
ardson, builder of Trinity Church. Bos-
ton. and the Allegheny County Court
house and Jail Pittsburgh He had
invented his own individual style
evolved from his study of the Roman
esque churches of Southern France"
but he had not caught the authentic
Romanesque spirit
A source of difficulty from the be-
ginning was that of the wasted space
represented in the building. Two hun
dred feet wide, 300 feet long and l27
feet high, with the tower reaching 315
feet, the gross floor space is only 352,-
b25 square feet-an area divided into
about $50 rooms around large court.
Razing the structure, it has been
supposed, will be tedious task Gray
granite from Maine is the principal
material of the outer walls. and it is
a substance not easy to manipulate.
The tower, especially, will be a prob
lem to take down.
Before a proper foundation can be
set for the "monstrosity's" successor,
the wooden piles driven in 1890 prob
ably will have to be replaced.