Evening star., 1940-01-28

0O0, 900 cost limit for the War De-
partment Building, and has appro-
priated $10.800,000 of this amount
for purchase of the site, preparation
of plans and construction of the
first unit.
The first unit, to be seven stories
high. as is the nearby Interior De-
partment, will be of somewhat the
same architectural type as that
structure. Commissioner Reynolds
explained that, in the design for
the War Department, I'VE have
steered a course between cumber-
some classic masonry and stark
The essential fla
vor of classical architecture will
be maintained, he said, but the
columns, elaborate cornice, multi
plicity of holdings and "other
purely ornamental forms of the
Greek and Roman precedent"
have been eliminated.
The building was designed in the
Office of the supervising architect
of the Public Buildings Administra-
ton and has been approved by the
Park and Planning Commission and
the Commission of Fine Arts, which
earlier had collaborated on selection
of the site, laying out of the ground
area actually to be occupied by the
buildings, and passed upon such
controlling factors as building mass,
heights and ccnice lines.
Indication Of Future.
The first unit will provide about
10000 square feet of the 1900 900
square feet of the completed build
ing. 1t will provide quarters for
the Offices of the Secretary Of War,
Assistant Secretary, chief Of staff
and general staff officers. These
officials now are housed in the
Munitions Building, into which they
moved when the War Department
vacated its quarters in the old State,
War and Navy Building last year,
leaving that historic structure with
the State Department as its sole
tenant. This fact is, in itself, a
commentary on the growth OF
Washington during the last few
decades and an indication of what
is to come The State, War and
Navy Building was completed in
1888, after II years of construction
work, and was at that time believed
to be the finest and largest office
building in the world. 1t was be-
lieved adequate for all three de-
partments perhaps during the life
of the building. World War needs,
however. made the old structure
inadequate and temporary transfers
began which resulted in the scat
tering of War Department activities
into 10 other buildings here. The
Navy and Munitions Buildings,
erected on Constitution avenue dur
ing the World War, also proved in
time to be inadequate, even for the
present peace-time requirements OF
the armed forces.
The plan to locate the new War
and Navy Department Buildings in
the so-called Northwest Rectangle
has been the result of years Of
intensive studies by the various
Federal agencies concerned, particu-
larly the Park and Planning Com
mission. Commission Officials said
that at least so different designs
have been prepared for the Navy
Building and its adjuncts, which
will include a naval museum and
the proposed basin for the famous
ships of our various naval wars. The
many designs were intended to con-
form to various limits of cost and
to differing ideas as to use OF the
available site. The size and shape
of the basin were modified number
of times and studies were made OF
various methods of preserving the
historic ships, from incasing them
in concrete to the water-line to
drydocking them or floating them
along the Potomac seawall or in a
landlocked basin.
The final plan calls for par
TALLY divided basin which may be
divided completely so that one por-
ton may be converted into a dry
dock in which the wooden-hulled
Constellation and Hartford may be
saved from the destructive effects Of
fresh water If this becomes neces-
sary. It was recalled that the Brit
ish found it necessary to drydock
the famous Victory, Lord Nelson's
flagship, to save it for posterity.
Concurrent Studies.
Plans for the War and Navy
Buildings have included the neces-
sary plans for treatment Of the
entire area from Seventeenth street
west to the Potomac and from Con-
stitution avenue north at least to
F street. These studies have been
carried on concurrently with the
building studies.
The present plans call for the ex-
tension westward of the beautiful
formalized Rawlins Park, between
the old and new Interior Depart
ment Buildings, on the line of E
street between Eighteenth and Nine
teenth streets. This parkway is to
be extended all the way to the main
Navy Department entrance on
Twenty-sixth street, under the pres
ent plan. It's extension would In