Evening star., 1953-12-17
First Group
Moves Out Of
SIum Area B
Eight More Families
To Be Moved
BY January |
By George Beveridoe


from Southwest Washington's
Redevelopment Area B and re-
housed elsewhere consists of a
25-year-old expectant mother
and her four children. ranging
in age from 8 to / year.
Until today Mary Nelson and
her children had lived in a sub
standard two-story, two-bed-
room row house at 1926 Third
street S.W. It had no central
heat. The only running water
came from a single cold-water
faucet protruding from a kitchen
wall. Toilet facilities were in an
clubhouse, backed against the
dwelling in a rubbish h-littered
back yard.
For this. the family was
charged SCI a month rent, not
counting coal and wood for the
two pot-bellied stoves used for
heat and cooking.
Settle in New House.
Today the Nelson's were set
Ting themselves in a compact
new home at 1862 Howison place
S.W., one of the National Capital
Housing Authority's public hous-
ing units in the James Creek
Project.
The family, like SO per cent Of
the residents in the slum- ridden,
76-acre Area B, is colored. Pub
lie assistance funds make up
virtually the entire source of in
come Of this family.
In space. the two-story, two
bedroom brick dwellings were
similar. But the new unit has
a hot-air, coal-burning furnace.
Attractively furnished, it has a
roomy kitchen, with hot and cold
water. It has a modern upstairs
bath.
When the Nelson children take
a bath tonight, their mother
said. it will be the first time the
three youngest have been in q
bathtub.
For all this. public assistance
funds will pay the NCHA $51 a
month, including gas and elec-
tricity.
1,345 Families in Area.
The move, arranged sby the
District Redeyelopment Land
Agency, is the first that would
have to be made for a total Of
1,345 families living in the B
Area under the city's pilot slum
clearance and redevelopment
program.
About half the families are
eligible for public housing. For
the rest, private housing else
where must be found. Surveys
of family incomes show that
many families can afford to pay
rents that will enable them to be
rehoused without difficulty. For
others, with large families and
low incomes, the job will be
tough.
Under the redevelopment pro-
gram, the RIA intends to ac-
quire all the property in the B
area, bounded by I, Fourth and
South Capitol streets and the
Pennsylvania Railroad tracks. It
intends to clear all this land and
sell it to a private developer for
rebuilding in accordance with a
plan already drawn up.
The Nelson's old rental unit
on Third street was the first
property acquired by the RIA.
Eight More to Move.
BY January i, the RIA expects
to move about eight more fam
lilies. These now live in Dixons
Court S.W.-the worst slum block
in the B area. Some of these
will require private housing.
John A. Remon and John r.
Searles, jr., chairman and direc-
tor of the RIA, respectively,
praised the NCHA for its CO.
operation in making available
public housing units for the
eligible families, like the Mel
sons, to be displaced.
But it isn't all going to rest
on public housing" Me. Remon
stressed. Later we're going to
need the help of private builders
and real estate men-along with
nearly all the community agen-
cies-to make the program a
success"
The redevelopment plan has
been contested in court suits,
one of which will be argued in
Federal Court here tomorrow,
But the RIA, in the absence OF
injunctive orders, has already
authorized the start OF land
acquisition.
ARRANGEMENTS for the Nelson's
move and preparations for the
others to follow were made by
a special staff headed by James
G. Banks. The relocation"
staff has set up a special Office
at GIT Fourth street S.W.
Have Own TV Set.
The Nelson children spent
most of this morning exploring
the new home. The family moved
in its own televiSion set, re-
frigerator and washing machine
In about a month, NCHA off,
cials will visit the family. to
make sure the unit is being kept
up to good housekeeping stand
ards.
In the old Third street dwell
ing, meanwhile, the two pot
bellied stoves and a kitchen sink
had been removed by persons
unknown this morning. The