Evening star., 1946-07-01
Cut
Spacefor Offices
'By20Acres
War Department
Move Contributes
To Saving Success

's~NS will tiDOtSS
To Saving Success
The Federal Governments slow
and painful efforts to fit back into
something approaching it's prewar
living quarters In Washington
creaked forward another step or
two as the 1s45-46 fiscal year ended.
Progress was reported today by
w. F. Reynolds, public buildings
commissioner, on two space-saving
fronts, one involving personnel, the
other excess Government records
and duplicate paper work.
AS the year closed, the Public
Buildings Administration had sue
ceeded, he reported, in reducing the
amount of Office space used by the
Government at the VI day peak of
the war by $4,000 square feet go
acres)-nearly all of it in Wash
ington buildings sorely needed for
private Offices, which PBA rented
for Uncle Sam during the emer-
gency
Pentagon Move Helps.
The major key to space-saving
success, he said, has been the ability
OF the War Department gradually to
pull back into the Pentagon Building.
This has resulted in a chain of
space moves which has permitted,
or soon will permit, the Veterans
Administration to begin moving from
the Districts sorely needed Munich.
pal Center. The VA regional Office
already has three floors of the IL.
story office building at 1925 Il street
NV. AS its main Office claims di-
vision and other subgroups pull out
OF Temporary Building E and into
the Munitions Building, rapidly be-
Ing vacated by the Army, the re-
glonal Office stands in a fair way to
get another four floors of the 1926
H street structure.
Ihs can happen because the So
clal Security Board can move out of
1923 H street and into its own build
ing in Southwest Washington, as the
National Housing Administration
moves thence into Temporary Build
ing E.
While this sounds complicated, it
Is actually far more simple than
some of the Office space chain re-
actions taking place as growing
peacetime agencies attempt moving
IN on the room occupied by debating
war Offices.
VA Illegal Tenant.
The VA was to have moved out
of the Municipal Center by June 30.
But since this has proved a physical
impossibility it will remain there as
an Illegal tenant until complicated
office shifts allow PBA to complete
ly clear 1925 H street.
When this is done the Districts
regional VA Office will be on a per-
manent footing and veterans will
come close to 'one-shot" dealings
with their local VA agency.
Although space savings to date
were seen as step in the right di-
rection, long, hard pull remains
before PBA can reduce its rented
office space in Washington 2.400 900
square feet by year from today, as
called for by Congress when it
passed PBA's appropriation bill for
that period.
Increasing cooperation in Gov
ernment agencies in disposing OF
noncurrent records and extra copies
of documents as a space-saving
move was announced today by Mr..
Reynolds.
Only relative few agencies, how
ever, have reported concrete steps
taken to dispose of the excess and
unused materials, he said.
He added to the Federal Com
munications Commission the Mari
time Commission and War Ship
ping Administration as we'll as the
General Accounting Office as agen-
cies which have gone all out to
comply with a Presidential directive
of a month ago to save space by
! this method.
Center System Helps.
The FEC, he told the Star. has
set up out-of-town record manage
ment centers, one in Washington
and two others in Hoboken, N. j.,
and Richmond, Calf. A second
West Coast Center is now under
way, he said. All records are pro-
cessed by these centers which come
under Records Administration
Section in Washington.
AS result, he explained, Mari
time-WSA setup constantly weeds
out unnecessary material and the
fewest possible records are stored
in Washington.
AS the result of stepped up efforts
on the part of GAO. Mr.. Reynolds
said, 7,736 tons or sic freight car
loads or obsolete records In its files
have been sold for waste paper
and 5000, ,392.37 turned over to the
United States Treasury.
i This action has gone forward fol
six years, but has been greatly
stepped up since the Presidents
order and has salvaged 173.05e
square feet of space for other pur-
poses.
Bagley Is Lauded.
Mr. Reynolds credited Dudley w
Bagley, GAO executive officer, with
having played the key role in "the
fine space saving record"
The FEC, Maritime Commission
and VISA, Mr.. Reynolds said, are
small outfits judged by the volume
of records they made and keep, but
the GAO rates high in paper work
If other agencies follow suit to
the same degree, he asserted, hun
dreds of thousands of square feet
Of valuable Government Office space
much of it now leased from private
owners, can be saved.
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