Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-09-15
National Airport

With ceremonies befitting the I'M
portance OF the project. President
Roosevelt on Tuesday will lay the
cornerstone of the terminal building
at Washington National Airport.
Gravelly Point. At the same time
six transport airplaneS, representing
the Civie AeronauticS Board, the
Army. tl'Se Navy and the three air
transport. lines operating out of
Washington. will land on the new
airport. The event has national
significaltce This is no mere local
project sind the choice of the first
airplaneS: to land on the airport is
intended to convey an idea of the
potential: usefulness of Washington
National Airport, not only to the Dis
trlCt and: to air transportation, but
also to the Nation and to its civil
and military air branches.
Washington is the one Capital of
major Nation without a civil air
terminal built and maintained by
the National Government Compile
ton of Washington National Airport
will, at long last, provide the United
States with the model for air ter
minals which should have been set
before the Nation at least decade
ago: There has been only one bene-
fetal aspect to the delay in building
this great airport in Washington; it
has permitted the accumulation Of
experience in design and construc-
ton to meet the rapidly increasing
demands Of aviation. AS a result,
Washington National Airport is eX-
pected to be not only one of the most
modern in the world in every respect,
but also one which has been designed
to meet future developments, as far
as it is possible for men to foresee
them.
Tuesdays ceremony will not find
this magnificent new airport COM
pleted or even ready for emergency
operations, but it will demonstrate
that really remarkable progress has
been made on this SlO,OOO,OO0 prof.
ect. considering the fact that this
less than two years ago. Paving of
two runWayS for a distance of 4,400
feet each provides ample landing
room for the airliners which will
participate in Tuesdays ceremonies.
All runway paving is to be completed
within less than a month. and all
paving, including taxi strips and
aprons around the terminal building
and hangers, by November 80, ac-
cording 10 the present schedule.
1t is more than appropriate that
the cornerstone of Washington Ma
tional Airport should be laid by
President Roosevelt, since he, more
than any other one person, is re-
spOnSiblc for its coming into eX-
iStence. For more than a decade
Congress had been wrangling over
an airport 70" the National Capital,
ltIOSIIlZsilS OllC
be built. but unable to come to any
decision as to location or RESPONSE
bility for financing, construction and
maintenance. Single-handed, the
President severed the Gordian knot
which tihd up this essential project
and made possible its cons ..ruction
with emergency funds as an emer-
gency rational project-a status
which, by that time, it truly had
attained, There is now real cause
for coneratulations to the Nation
and its Capital, to air transportation
and aviation in general, and to the
Civil Aeronautics Board, which took
charge of the construction project
and which, with the magnificent
support of nearly a score of other
Federal agencies, not least among
them the Army Engineer Corps,
pushed it so energetically during the
past busy year.