Evening star., 1937-03-18
OPPOSITION GROWS
TOWARD PLAN FOR
JEFFERSON ED|F|CE
P. W. A. Exhibits Super.
visor Sees Cost 5 Times
$1,000, 900.
FINE ARTS COMMISSION
is TERMED REACTIONARY
Planning Board to Devote Tomor-
row Afternoon to Considera.
tion of Memorial.

While the National Capital Park
and Planning Commission was pre-
pairing to devote tomorrow afternoon
to consideration of the Thomas JET
ferson Memorial and hold joint ses-
sion on that subject with the Fine
Arts Commission on Saturday morn
ing, opposition to the project began to
gather force. The memorial is pro-
jected at the south of the Tidal Basin.
Eames MacVeagh, supervisor of ex-
hibits in the housing division of the
Public Works Administration, and son
of the late Franklin MacVeagh, Sec
administration, came out in opposi-
ton to the Thomas Jefferson Memo
rial, contending that while the project
figure is 100000, there are those
that think it will cost five times that
much The Fine Arts Commission,
which favors the memorial, is now
"reactionary and dominated by one
man"-Dr. Charles Moore-who has
been chairman for great many years,
MacVeagh asserted, recalling that his
father was one of the originators Of
that commission, when the elder
MacVeagh was Secretary Of the
Treasury
THE Thomas Jefferson Memorial
is much too big and in fact an effort
to outdo the Lincoln Memorial" said
MacVeagh. There are 81 steps pro-
posed up to the main floor, in an
effort to give 1t magnitude It is so
planned as to cut off access to Four
teenth and Fifteenth streets and
changes the simple contour Of the
Tidal Basin to rigid, straight lines.
Wants Epoch Interpretation.
John Russell Pope, the architect,
took the same portico and the same
squatty dome he used in the Mellon
Art Gallery and used it in the Thomas
Jefferson design
We are living in transcendent
era and we should have architecture
to interpret this epoch" MacVeagh
said, pointing to the Folger Library,
designed by Paul Cret of Philadelphia.
as an example of this
We now have in Washington
petrlfled forest of Greek and Roman
columns The Mall and Triangle
are kind of Roman Forum. 1 hope
it's not too late to have an open COM
petition on the Thomas Jefferson
Memorial design, thrown open to all
architects"
MacVeagh emphasized that there
are other considerations than archi-
lecture entering into his opposition to
the present design, pointing to the
street layout and other difficulties
While he had no specific suggestions
as to the design or location for the
memorial, he said that it should "be
entirely modern in the simplicity of
its lines" and have smooth surfaces. :"
He explained that he is a member of
art and architectural groups in Chi
cago and will endeavor to get the
Chicago architect to form the spear
head OF opposition to the memorial, as
designed.
Avoided Factory Aspect.
While his father was Secretary of
the Treasury, MacVeagh asserted, he
supervised the construction of the
Bureau of Engraving and Printing and
had 1t so designed as to avoid a fac
tory appearance for the building.
Likewise, he supervised the Post Office
on the Union Station Plaza, to have
it in conformity with the station and
create a beautiful building, he said.
Today the National Capital Park
and Planning Commission is inaugu-
rating its three-day March meeting,
during which it will consider the street
layout in the vicinity of the Mellon
Art Gallery; planning in the Wash
lngton- Baltimore Annapolis area: a
suitable auditorium for Washington
and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial.
William T. Partridge, consulting
architect of the commission, has
created a model of the Thomas Jeffer-
son Memorial and will present a re-
port on the whole subject. John
Nolen, jr., director of planning of the
Commission, said that consideration
will be given the most practical solu-
tions relating to the adjustment of
the Tidal Basin areas; connections to
Fourteenth and Fifteenth streets and
approaches to the Highway Bridge.
The commission last year requested
the United States engineer Office,
when 1t approved the hood-control
levee at the rear of the Navy and
Munitions Buildings, to study the
possibility of another levee, along the
bank of the Potomac River, running
from the Lincoln Memorial to the
Railroad Bridge, in Potomac Park.
E, A. Schmitt, senior engineer in the
| United States engineer Office, will
present report tomorrow afternoon
and Is also scheduled to appear at the
joint meeting on Saturday morning.
Some Government officials believe
that erection of the Thomas Jeffer-
son memorial in West Potomac Park
will create a fiood-control problem,
especially If Washington experiences a
flood similar to that Of last March.
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