Evening star., 1953-12-19
By Robert J. Lewis

BY Robert J. Lewis
A tract Of land in Southwest
Washington. consisting Of about
427 acres largely covered with
dilapidated slums and many OUT
worn commercial structures in a
hodge-podge pattern, has be-
come the center Of mounting
controversy In the last few
months.
, It stretches east and west from
the Smithsonian Institution to
the Capitol. with its northern
boundary an irregular line vary
ing from three to five blocks
south of the Mall. The tract in
cludes the site Of three projected
redevelopment projects through
which the District and the Fed
eral Government hope to begin
an attack on one Of the worst OF
Washington's "sore-thumb" sec
tionS.
Up to now, every plan to trans
form and rehabilitate this area
has proposed construction OF
new housing to replace old hous-
ing. Every plan accepts the idea
that the area shall remain essen
TALLY residential in character,
despite the high value of the
land, its proximity to the Capt.
tol, and its location roughly in
the geographical center of the
Washington Metropolitan region.
Is this area, in fact, suited
for residential redevelopment?
Does it deserve some higher use?
Ask those related questions of
Pierre M. Ghent, a well-known
Washington land economist and
member of the Committee Of 100
on the Federal City who has
site-planned more than 10000
dwelling units built in the Dis
trict area and other cities, and
you receive two emphatic an
SwerS:
l. "The Southwest tract is not
suitable for mass living"
2. "It offers the Washington
area just about it's last chance
to think big for real redevelop-
ment and Identification of the
in-town area"
Mr.. Client is one Of an in
creaSing number of persons
interested in Washington re-
development who recently have
called for a thoroughgoing
reasSessment of the acceptability
of plans hitherto proposed fol
changing the face of the South
west area. He is the first to say
the area is largely unsuitable
for housing.
At a recent meeting of the
Committee of 100 on the Fed
eral City Mr.. Ghent said he
considered most of the thinking
SO far on Southwest redevelop-
ment to be ''unrealistic, narrowly
conceived, and almost completely
out of context with the economic
realities of the problem"
His indictment of the idea
that chiefly housing should re-
place existing deteriorated prop
erty is based on three main
premises, he explained the other
day:
Il. AS the Nations Capital,
Washington deserves to be truly
the cultural center Of the Nation
and possess easily accessible
physical facilities to fulfill its
responsibilities to the country as
a whole.
2. The area marked for re-
development is the most logical
site for the necessary expansion
OF Washington's physical facili-
ties not only to serve the people
OF this area but the hundreds
OF thousands Of additional visi-
tors which it could attract every
year.
g. Any redevelopment of the
area based on replacement of
housing by housing is not only
Illogical but so hopelessly uneco-
nomic that it could never be
fully accomplished"
AS a substitute for what he
refers to as the present plans
concept Of housing for housing,
slums for future slums," Mr.,
Client proposes what he calls q
Federal center plan" of South
west redevelopment.
1T Is high time for Congress-
and all of us here to begin to
think in bigger dimensions about
washington and it's place in the
world scheme" he said.f
This Is q city of destiny vet