Evening star., 1948-12-19

Washington Office Of its own, with
each division represented. In these
10 division Offices, under a decentral-
lied program, all local questions,
save policy, can be decided on the
spot, without reference to WASH
ington.
This speeds up the business Of the
Government, for the PBA is the
landlord" of the Federal Offices in
many departments, excepting the
Post Office and the National mill
tary establishments, and grapples
with the vexing space problem. Re-
quests for space expansion far exceed
the available housing.
Federal activities in New York
City center in the Federal Building
at 80 Church street and in the
United States Custom Ho Use. Army,
Navy and other major aspects of
Government make these buildings
proverbial beehive Of industry. But
Gotham Is so vast that all the Fed
eral offices there cannot find COM
mon geographic ground.
In Boston, the Federal Offices
head up at the Post ONCE and
Courthouse Building. In Philadel-
phia, the Government occupies rent
ed space. In Atlanta, Federal offices
meet in the Federal Annex. In Chi
cago, they focus In the Post Once
Building. In Kansas City, they are
centered in rented quarters. In
Dallas, they are in the Post Office
and Courthouse Building. In Seat
tie, they are found in the United
States Courthouse. In Denver, they
are in the new Customs House and
in San Francisco in the Appraisers
Building. Yet the rental problem
looms up in these cities, too.
Barracks for Offices
But there are other cities through
out the Nation where, because of
particular geographic location, they
have concentration of Federal
establishments, far beyond their
ordinary population Importance.
These are such cities as Sacramento,
Calf; Albuquerque, N. Mex; Bill
ings and Missoula in Montana and
Boise In Idaho. There large pro-
grams under the supervision of the
Interior Department, such as the
Geological Survey of the Bureau Of
Reclamation and others, occupy at
tention.
The decentralization program Of
the Veterans Administration has
brought about vast changes in the
creation Of regional and branch
Offices. This has meant that in
such a community as Huntington.
W. Va, or Columbia, s. c., there Is
personnel load Of 400 to 500 people.
In such cities the Federal Govern
ment is having extreme dificulty in
properly housing its ofices.
Important centers for the Federal
Government are New Orleans, Port
land, Greg; Minneapolis-st. Paul,
Milwaukee, Louisville, Fort Worth.
st. Louis, Cleveland and Indian
apolis. The PBA has representatives
there to act in o liaison capacity
regarding the leasing of space, its
and proper operation.
PBA plans to erect new public
buildings, when the time is oppor-
tune. for the convenience of the
Government and the citizen. On
cials say the Federal Government
can amortize the cost of a new
building in from 20 to 80 years,
particularly in the larger cities. But
this phase of the problem is under
study in and out of Congress.
Properly designed buildings will
permit the consolidation Of various
agencies of the Government, ON
cials point out, particularly those
within the same department. This
will make 1t more convenient for
the citizen who has business with
his Government. For now one has
to travel blocks or even miles within
a city to visit the various agencies
housed there.
Many Projects Deferred
This housing of Federal agencies
under one ROTOR at least in the
same general location-has a reac-
ton within the community. For
municipalities have been most in
sistent on having Federal officials
cooperate with local planning
groups in co-ordinating Federal and
local plans. State, county and city
governments strongly advocate that
Federal plans take into considera-
ton plans they have formed for
new and existing public buildings.
This program would call for the
concentration of all types Of Gov
ernment buildings in one part Of
the community, If possible.
J Public Buildings Commissioner
w. e. Reynolds has indicated he
will cooperate to every extent pos
sible, but the Federal Government
does not pioneer a consolidated
building project.
In those communities where Fed
eral activities are clustered together,
many departments are usually rep
resented, including the State De-
partment. The Post ONCE Depart
ment, Treasury, Agriculture, De-
partment Justice, Federal Security
Agency and Federal Communica-
tions Commission customarily have
their representatives on hand IN
the major centers.
For eight years now, there has
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