Evening star., 1941-07-24
All War Units
To Be Housed
On Virginia. Site
s35,o0o,ooo Office
Proposed on Lond
Just Across Potomac
By GOULD LINCOLN.


former Agriculture Experimental
Farm property, at the Virginia
end of the Fourteenth Street
Bridge, to house all activities of
the War Department, is pro-
vided in a supplemental national
defense appropriation bill re-
ported to the House today by its
Appropriations Committee.
This property already has been
turned over to the War Department.
able for the building besides an ade-
quate area for parking at least TO-
900 automobiles.
1t is planned to erect the building
Immediately. The committee has
been advised that it can be COM
pleted within a year.
Navy May Benefit, Too.
A new War Department building
in Washington near Virginia avenue
and Twenty-frst street NV. will
siblv by the Navy Department.
The proposed new building will be,
of reinforced concrete with brick
facade. three stories high. without
elevators, but with escalators. 1t
would contain gross area Of $780,
900 square feet. After deducting
space for corridors. cafeterias. files,
etc. there would be available ap-
proximately 100000 square feet Of
Office space. The building will house
a personnel of 10000.
The War Department personnel
now approximates 24,000. and
force of 10000 is expected by the
first of the year.
The cost of the building complete.
is fixed at s35. 900 900. The commit
tee was advised that in addition to
this sum 81 900 900 would be required
to grade and pave the parking area
The committee. however, will require
cost of the parking area to be in
cluded within the s35 100000.
Now Using II Buildings.
During the hearings before the
committee. it was shown that the
War Department now occupies II
different buildings here with total
/ space of 100000 square feet. II this
| building is constructed, it will re-
lease 2140,000 square feet of space
for other agencies.
Oficials of the War Department
eseimate that the efficiency of the
departments operation can be in
creased by at least Is per cent If all
| its activities can be housed together.
The shifting of various agencies
out of rented space into Govern
ment-owned space TO be vacated by
the War Department, and the pos
sible utilization of marginal space in
the new building is expected to bring
about a saving in Government rent
ais ranging from s2,500,000 to s3,00o,-
900 annually.
S2,000,000 to Treasury.
The sum of 100000, now avail
able for a temporary wooden build
ing on this projected site. would not
be expendend, and would revert to
the Treasury.
In its report to the House the COM
mittee said that if this project is
carried out it will solve much of
the problem of office space in Wash
ington"
1t will not relieve the necessity of
renting space in the District, nor the
desirability of pushing the effort to
move some agencies from the Dis
trlct TO other points in the country,
the committee added.
The type of building and its loca-
ton follow the general plan which
the committee has advocated in the
past of departing from the monu-
mental high-cost type of structure
for general Office purposes.
Airport Site Rejected.
Brig. Gen. Eugene Reybold. dur
ing hearings on the project before
the committee, said that he had in
vestigated the old Hoover Airport
as a possible site for the War De-
partment structure but found 1t un-
suitable because it is within the
flood plane of the river.
Gen. Reybold told the COMMITTEES
that if the project is carried out
the new Virginia avenue building
might be available for the Navy
Department, which, according to
plans, is to have new building
costing about $22 20OO. 900.
Brig. Gen. B. B. Somervell, oues-
toned by the committee regarding
the problem of getting all the en-
ployes of the War Department to
and from the Virginia site, said he
did not think it would be necessary
to stagger the hours of work, point
ing out that the people coming TO
the building would find the bulk
of the traffic going in the opposite
direction.
Gen. Somervell testified that II
the money is appropriated, work on
the building would get under way
(See WAR DEPARTMENT, Pr, A-4