Evening star., 1938-07-08
NAVAL HOSPITAL
SITE At BETHESDA
GIVEN APPROVAL
Formal Selection Expected
to Speed Plans for
Medical Center.
PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES
CHOICE BEFORE LEAVING
Total of $4,S5O,O00 Authorized
for Land Purchase and
Construction.

Formal selection Of 214-acre site
on the east side of the Rockville pike
north of Bethesda, Md, for the new
Naval Hospital was announced late
last night just before the departure
Of President Roosevelt for the Pacific
Coast
Ending a long search during which
scores of sites in the District, Mary
land and Virginia have been examined,
the actual designation of the site is
expected to be followed speedily by
preparations for construction of a
great new medical center which will
replace the overcrowded, inadequate
facilities in the present center at
Twenty-third street and Constitution
avenue NV.
Approved by Roosevelt.
The tract was approved personally
by President Roosevelt and Rear Ad-
miral P. S. Rossiter, chief of the
Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery,
following an inspection trip Tuesday
evening and conferences at the White
House yesterday The site also has
been approved by the National Capital
Park and Planning Commission, it
was stated at the White House.
The commission was understood to
have submitted to the President ad-
verse reports on sites he previously
had inspected on Conduit road near
Foxhall Village and in the vicinity of
the Dalecarlia Reservoir on the ground
that these sites were not sufficiently
large for future expansion.
S4,S50,000 Authorized.
A total of $4.850,000 has been au-
thorized by Congress for construction
and land purchase for the new Naval
Hospital and approximately one-third
OF this amount now is available for
expenditure
Preliminary plans for 650-bed hos
pital building now are being prepared
by the Navy Bureau of Yards and
Docks in collaboration with Paul Cret,
nationally famed architect. who is
responsible for number of public and
semi-public buildings in Washington.
These plans will be submitted to the
National Capital Park and Planning
Commission and the Commission of
Fine Arts for consideration at their
July meeting
The proposed hospital building will
be part of plan for expansion to
1900 beds capacity in case of national
emergency, the Navy Department ex-
planned.
The hospital buildings will be only
part of the new Naval Medical Gen.
ter which will be established on the
site. In addition to the hospital
buildings, quarters will be provided,
possibly in separate buildings, for the
naval medical school, the naval dental
school and various technical schools.
Research Facilities.
All of the schools will have facilities
for research work, not only for naval
purposes. but also for the general ad-
vancement of the medical science.
Although the Navy Department ap-
preparation bill authorized a total of
$4,850,000 for the new Medical Center,
the amount actually available for ex-
PSAAoAeuAC Z lldo 1lOb UCcll 1lAcU. AppIOXl-
mately $450,000 has been allocated by
the Secretary of the Navy for acquisi-
tion OF the site and preparation of
plans. The Secretary. however, is en-
powered to make additional ALLEGATIONS
from general funds available to the
Bureau of Yards and Docks for con-
Struction of shore facilities.
A total of more than $11 900 900 was
appropriated in the current bill, and
there are some unexpended balances
from last year which also may be
available
The site as approved by the Presi-
dent and the Navy Bureau extends
along the east side of the Rockville
pike from the Jones Mill road on the
south to the southern boundary of the
country estate of George E. Hamilton
and is across the pike from the Luke
Wilson estate, on which the National
Cancer Institute Building is being
constructed.