Evening star., 1953-08-15
Capital Advances in Removal
Of Temporary Housing

lily buildings, erected by PHA.
They are: Camp Simm m S
houses, Fifteenth street and AL
ALBANIA avenue Sc, now being
vacated: Overlook avenue
houses, Overlook avenue and
Chesapeake streets S.W.; Port
land street houses, Portland
street. between South Capitol
and Second streets Sc; the
Quarles street houses and the
Thirty-first street houses, at
Thirty first and F streets, S.E.
Also gotten rid OF are the
Nichols Avenue Houses, opposite
Pomeroy rd. Sc, next to st.
ElizabethS Hospital, Mr.. Ring
said. This was a group Of 164
housing units.
Another group Of houses, the
O'Brien Court Houses, near
Twenty first and E streets NV,
with SO housing units, has been
removed. The NCHA got a book
credit of more than $500, 900
for this property. a former slum
site, at first used for a parking
lot and now the site of the new
Red Cross Chapter Building for
the District.
Mr.. Ring said many of the
war housing properties consist
Of demountable group one-family
houses and have been classified
by PHA as permanent in char
acter," for removal from pres
ent siteS.' Many of these were
erected on local sites leased by
NCHA.
But Mr.. Ring was careful to
point out that these buildings
do not conform to District laws
and regulations. ..
PHA to Time Sales.
So, they must be removed by
purchasers for re-erection in
jurisdictions with more lenient
building codes. PHA will deter
mine the timing of disposition
and the methods to be used in
connection with the sale of these
properties, Mr.. Ring declared.
Where PHA sanctions DISPOSE
ton Of war housing, the director
said tenants will be advised sew
eral months in advance so they
can seek other homes.
Low-income families Of veter-
ans who have observed the pro-
visions Of tenancy in war hous-
ing and who wish to move to
permanent low-rent housing un-
der NCHA management will be
given priority status. Mr.. Ring
said.
Mr.. Ring pointed out: "Of the
1000 temporary dwelling units
which were under NCHA man
agement at the close of World
War II, 1,160 have been re-
moved; TIL are now being va
Gated for demolition and q
schedule for removal has been
prepared for the remainder.
"The temporary properties now
being vacated are the Calvert
Houses at Riverdale, Md, near
the University Of Maryland, with
4SS dwelling units and the Camp
simms Houses. 2ss dwelling
units"
Income Governs Occupancy.
War housing tenants whose in
comes are above levels for ad-
mission to public housing will
have to flnd private housing, the
director explained.
The war-built homes were es-
Sentially temporary in character
and had a high maintenance
cost. Private construction and
new low-rent permanent housing
erected by NCHA have enabled
the Government to get rid of the
temporary structures, Mr.. Ring
explained.
Under the current program,
PHA. officials said tenants of
war-built housing will be notified
not later tim Mrch 81 next to
vacate the premises by July /,
1854. Those remaining after that
date are to be evicted and dwell
ings removed as soon as prac-
ticable, after they become vacant.
PHA officials said neither the
District Commissioners nor
NCHA wanted the temporary
war-built housing, which they
could acquire. Mr.. Ring said in
doing this, NCHA is living up to
commitments made to the Dis
trict government, to citizens
groups and to site owners when
the housing was erected.
Some Of the public housing
was built in 1912 and later and
other projects were built in 1885,
Is as housing for war veterans
and their families. George
Washington and Howard Univer-
sites and others have dormi-
tories and family accommoda-
tions under this program. ON
cials recalled.
Gast Of series: Tomorrow: A
possible remedy for the Federal
Governments housing dilemma)