Evening star., 1936-05-03

n shocked at seeing their
wv downtown parks torn up in
the reconditioning process
under the Sl,000,000 Public Works
Administration program that they are
apparently unable to visualize how
they will appear in the finished state.
Mai. Gilmore D. Clarke Of New York,
landscape architect member Of the
Fine Arts Commission, said yesterday.
Mai Clarke, who has just been re-
appointed by President Roosevelt Tor
another four-year term on the COM
mission, made a personal inspection
of Lafayette Park, Franklin Park and
others that are undergoing recondi-
tioning. He expressed the opinion
that the workmanship is first class
and that when the work is completed,
washington is going to be pleasantly
surprised with the results"
Wait for Full Cure.
"Washingtonians have never seen
their parks altered before" said the
eminent landscape architect, who is
also consultant to Mayor La Guardia
and Park Commissioner Robert Moses
in New York City. as well as being a
professor at Cornell University. Wait
for the doctor to effect a full cure.
The patient has been sick for Is years
and is now recovering"
Maj. Clarke explained that the dis
eased condition of many of Washing
tons park trees, the impoverished top
soil and the generally rundown status
of the older parks of the city made
the new program imperative. While
to the layman's eye a tree or shrub
might look all right, it might be dis
eased and menace to other plant
life, he said.
The "hard-boiled" aspect of the
problem, he pointed out, is that over
a long span of years, Washington's
park system has not had sufficient
maintenance funds. To meet this Sit
uation, the park authorities were faced
with the practical problem of placing
the parks in presentable shape with
the money on hand.
1T is just question of cutting the
coat to the cloth you have" said he.
Question of Finances.
InaSmuch as trees. paths and grass
are the most economical to maintain
in park system, existing maintenance
funds do not permit of more preten-
tious displays, and the park officials
here we're faced with the very prac-
tical problem of reconditioning the
Washington parks with these avail
able patterns, Maj. Clarke said.
Washingtons parks now have so
per cent less maintenance money than
they had a quarter of century ago,
the officials say, and if one considers
that now many things are 25 years
older-and consequently more eXpens-
Ave to keep up; that wage scales and
materials are now twice as costly as
they were back in 1911, the parks are
four times worse off as far as MAIN
tenance than they were.
The National Capital has an indi-
vidual park problem of its own, by
reason of the fact that a series of
small triangles. caused by a system of
avenues and streets being superim-
posed upon the rectangular grid lay
out of thoroughfareS, that no other
city in America has, they declare.
These small areas are much harder
to maintain than if there were large
sections of park land, such as the
Washington Monument grounds.
How Officials See 1t.
This is the way the park officials see
1t: The average building lot is one
tenth of an acre. If the individual
householder here had the same ratio
OF maintenance money available. as do
the parks he would be getting Sl3
annually for the job plus whatever he
valued his time he spends in keeping
UP his yard. Maintenance costs in
the parks include salaries for the
workmen, all materials-plants, seeds,
etc, and lighting In addition, the
park people have to maintain several
things the individual never bothers
with-roads, comfort stations, sewers,
water supply, lights and intensive use
and abuse by the public.
The cold figures do not give the true
picture, because acreages do not show
Improvements that have been placed
on the land-improvements that must
be maintained, the authorities say
Altogether, Washington now has 694
park reservations, with a grand total
maintenance fund of S715,000 allowed
by Congress. which works out at about
$3.50 per acre. This compares with
s195 per acre, when the National
Capital had some 343 reservations,
back in 1911, totaling TIT acres, for
which the maintenance item was