Evening star., 1939-05-07
Health Institute
And Hospital Bring
Boom 10 Bethesda
New School, Scores Of
Homes, and Roods May
Follow Federal Jobs

Establishment of the National In
stitute of Health and the United
States Navy Hospital on the Rock
Vile pike is stimulating develop
ment of the entire Bethesda section,
already one Of the fastest growing
communities in the Capitals
suburbs, and at the same time con-
fronting Montgomery County offi-
cials with number of new prob
lens. +.-t
Real estate operators in nearby
Maryland said yesterday that In
addition to actual construction of
the new Government buildings, the
two Federal projects will cause the
construction of scores OF new homes,
new roads, a new school and may
be considered indirectly responsible
for enlargement Of a golf course
in the area.
While real estate firms were anti
cipating need for new homes to
serve the LOO employees of the two
institutions, various county agencies
were beginning to take cognizance
of the problems affecting them.
New School Urged.
The Montgomery County Board of
Education has advised the Board
of Commissioners that the Bethesda
Elementary School has been en-
larged as much as possible with the
ground available and that within
the next two years a new school
should be built in the area north
of Wisconsin avenue and between
the Rockville pike and Connecticut
avenue.
The trafic bottleneck at the juno
ton of Rockville pike and the East
West highway already is causing
difficulty during rush hours. AS the
commercial development of Be-
thesda spreads north along the
Rockville pike, this condition is ex-
pected to become more acute. The
Maryland National Capital Park
and Planning Commission is at
tempting to leave room for widen
ing Of the pike by having new build
ings set back an extra 20 feet along
the east side of the pike, but the
old buildings along the west side Of
the pike preclude any relief on that
side.
To relieve traffic congestion some
what, the commission will relocate
the Jones Bridge road. which forms
the south boundary of the Navy Hos
pital site, and provide l00-foot
right-of f-way from Rockville pike
to Connecticut avenue as a bypass
route. 1t is expected that the road
eventually will be extended to Beach
drive at a point near the East-West
highway.
Buildings to Be Done Soon.
The administration building and
two laboratories Of the National In
stitute of Health, branch of the
United States Public Health Serv-
ice, will be completed within the next
few weeks, and the Cancer Research
Laboratory will be completed during
the summer. Two more laboratories
will be completed next year. For the
800 employees Of the institute, how
ever. only Is quarters are being
erected. The others. whose salaries
range from 81 500 to $4,000, must
either commute or live in the neigh
borhood.
The work of clearing the grounds
for the Navy Hospital has begun
and bids are expected to be called
for within the next few weeks. AL
though the new building. the only
skyscraper in the Washington area,
will not be completed before 1912,
plans for an intensive building pro-
gram are already under way at sew
eral real estate development Offices.
One company recently made an
offer to purchase the Woodmont
Golf and Country Club, planning to
subdivide it for new homes. but the
offer was declined. Recently the
Woodmont Club voted to add an
other nine holes to its present nine
hole course.