Evening star., 1941-04-18
Planners Study
East Capitol
Development
Proposal Broodens
B St. Sc. and NE.
To 240 Feet
BULLETIN.

Enactment of the Independent
Offices Appropriation Act has
provided the National Capital
Park and Planning Commission
with money necessary to the
furtherance of three of its major
projects, Thomas S. Settle, COM
mission secretary, told the group
today. Under the act the PLAN
ming commission will receive
$85O,0O0 with which to buy more
park and playground land, $780,
900 for extension of the George
Washington Memorial Parkway
into Maryland and 100000 to
extend the AnacoStia River Park
from Bladensburg, Md. to Belts
vile, Md, Mr.. Settle reported.
The National Capital Park and
Planning Commission yesterday re-
terred to its co-ordinating COM
mittee the Downer- Clarke plan for
wide-scale development of the East
Capitol street area.
Prepared by Jay Downer and
Gilmore D. Clarke, Public Roads
Administration consultants, the
plan calls for readjuStment Of the
entire area between B street Sc.
and B street NE, from Second
street to Nineteenth street.
Mr.. Downer told the planning
commission he envisioned a Mall
like development differing from the
present Mall principally in that a
double row of Federal Office build
ings would occupy the area corre-
spending to the broad expanse of
park west of the Capitol.
Would Widen Each.
AS explained by Thomas S. Settle,
commission secretary, the DoWner-
Clarke proposal is to broaden both
B streets to a width of 240 feet be-
tween building lines, making them
actually a continuation of Consti-
tuition and Independence avenues.
East Capitol street also would be
made the same width, he said.
Mr.. Settle said that both A streets
would be eliminated entirely. the
land they now occupy to be given
over to the Government Office build
ings. He said Mr.. Downer had
told the Planning Commission this
would mean providing nearly 4,000,-
900 square feet of Office space.
No estimate of the cost was forth
coming.
The present housing arrangement
along the outer sides of both B
streets would not be affected i'm
mediately, Mr.. Settle said. He ex-
planned that the Downer- Clarke
plan was drawn up at the request of
planning authorities after extensive
conferences among officials of the
District government, the Public
Roads Administration. the Public
Buildings Administration and the
Park and Planning Commission.
Cites Outstanding Merits.
The planning commission has
sought way of developing the
East Capitol street area since 1923,
Mr. Settle said. Two of the plans
greatest merits, he explained. would
be to provide adequate approaches
to downtown Washington from the
east and to facilitate movement to
and from the vast recreation center
being developed near between Nine
teenth street and Kingman Lake.
The commission also approved a
bill pending in Congress which
would permit the Pennsylvania Rail
road to construct an underpass be-
meath New York avenue near Fourth
street NE. This would enable the
railroad to run its cars closer to
markets in the vicinity, it was said.
Approval also was given the plan
to transfer the Mcmillan Fountain,
made necessary by installation of
new filters at the reservoir, to new
location on the Mall east of Third
street and south of Pennsylvania
avenue.
Thomas C. Jeffers, the commits
sion'S landscape architect, made
report of the status of land now in
use for Fairgrounds and recreation
areas. The report is to be used in
the congressional hearings on the
Settle recreation board bill
Road Plans Asked.
The commission requested the
Public Roads Administration to pre-
pare plans and cost estimates for
a projection of the cantonment
roadway soon to be built between
the Columbia Island traffic plaza
and Military road in Arlington
near Federal Office Building No. q
The cantonment roadway should
be considered the first stretch of an
approach to the city from the South,
the commission feels. The extern
sion they have asked the P. R. A.
to map would continue from Mill
tary road around the south side of
Arlington National Cemetery and
join Lee boulevard west of Fort
Myer.