Evening star., 1940-02-01
Federal City Dinner
Opens New Era in
Developing Capital
10 to IS Year Goal Set
For Civic Leaders, U. S.
Officials and Planners

For Civic Leaders, U. S.
Officials and Planners
A new era in the development Of
the Capital of the United States OF
America started today.
Plans for the next 10 to Is years
of Washington's development were
unfolded last night by the Commit
tee of 100 on the Federal City, that
group of civic leaders, planners and
Government officials which in 1924
foreshadowed the Washington OF
1910 with a similar set of plans.
The plans were made public by
the committee, special organ OF
the American Planning and Civic
Association, at a Federal City
Banquet" given by the association
in cooperation with the American
Society of Landscape Architects at
the Willard Hotel in honor of the
National Capital Park and Planning
Commission, the instrument that
has fashioned the Washington Of
today.
The new program emissions city
of tomorrow in which an architec-
tural board may supervise design OF
private buildings. Pennsylvania ave-
nue. may be "one of the most dlstin-
guished streets in the world, the
midcity section may have ample
park and recreation space and IA
cilities, antiquated schools on small
plots of land may no longer exist,
all residents of Washington may be
we'll housed in sanitary dwellings
with adequate light, air and SUM-
shine, arranged in neighborhoods
uncrossed by arterial highways and
provided with parks, Fairgrounds,
schools, libraries and all other de-
sirable facilities; apartment houses
may have off-street parking facili-
ties, and a tricity park and plan
ming development will be the rule
where Baltimore, Washington and
Annapolis are concerned.
Scores at Banquet.
Approximately 200 persons, each
with a major or minor role in the
development that has gone before
and most with similar roles in the
development to come, gathered in
the Willard ballroom as the new
program first saw the light of day.
Toastmaster and, in his own
words, ION the sending and receiv-
ing end" of the banquet program,
was Frederic A. Delano, chairman
of the National Capital Park and
Planning Commission and chair
man of the Committee of 100.
He was introduced by Horace M.
Albright, president of the American
Planning and Civic Association, who
presided. Mr.. Albright asserted
that 1--WE can rest assured that the
United States of America has a
more adequate capital city than If
the capital had been located in a
metropolis already established for
other purposes.
ITO the jaundiced eyes of New
Workers" he said, "the buildings
may seem sawed off and, in COM
parison with the modernistic mon
strosities of many another city, the
public buildings may seem to be
'slavish copies of dead past But
better copy design of buildings on
models which have lived for two or
three thousand years than to make
the Capital a museum of short-Ived
designs which may be as funny in
the year 1000 as the atrocities OF the
'7Os and '80s are today"
Delano Tells of Activity.
Mr.. Delano said:
Every citizen of the United
States has vital interest in Wash
ington, the Nations Capital. From
the time of its organization, the
American Planning and Civic Asso-
citation participated in occasional
campaigns to protect the city from
threatened harm. In 1922 I was in
vited to become chairman of the
Committee of 100.
cat that time, 131 years after the
making of the L'Enfant plan, 121
years after the occupation of the
city by the Federal Government and
81 years after the Mcmillan report,
it seemed to some of us that Wash
ington was slipping.
collectively we joined in two sig
nificant recommendations
81. Just as the founders looked
forward 100 years in their planning
so we must look forward. Correct
ing past errors is expensive. Intel
ligent planning for the future is
economy. Some machinery ade-
quate for such planning should be
set up.
80. This Federal City was set
amid hills and valleys that were
notable for their trees and shrub
berry of a remarkable variety. If
that condition is to continue in the
future, ample reservations for for
ests and parks should be made.
Other cities in our country are far
in advance of Washington in these
respects" Mr.. Delano said, and went
on to chronicle what has come to
pass.
Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, men,
ii r. -