Evening star., 1954-12-30
Begmed District Building Half Hidden by Unsighty Wartime Tempo
IS Official Reception Point for Ciys DISTINGUISHED Visitors

ONA~~SNS~B
cade Of dirt and CRIME.
And what Is more, only a part
of it can be seen, because an
unsightly temporary building
hides it.
The main. doorway to the
building iteslf is hidden In the
gloom Of recessed entranceway,
cluttered by q mounted metal
reproduction Of the Liberty Bel
Ia reminder Of a 1850 Savings
Bond drive.
Four and a half years after
1t was accepted by the District
Commissioners. the 2,0O0-pounc
copy of the Liberty Bell - one
of SO made in France - still
stands in the District Buildings
E street entrance, waiting fol
the city fathers to decide on q
permanent location for it.
Cleaned Once Since 1908.
The rain-streaked building it.
self has been cleaned only once
since it was dedicated on July
4, 1908. That was when the
District Fire Department hosed
1t down with $4,000 gallons OF
water on April 80, 1949. The
Capitol Building is so treated
every two years or so.
Department records indicate
the city's fire fighters did one
other cleaning job on the Dis
trict Building. This was purely
an inside affair, when they
washed down the ventilation
system on November %. 1852.
The temporary building that
hides the District Building from
Pennsylvania avenue at Four
teenth street NV. is now the
home of the Districts Office of
Veterans Affairs. headed by
Waldron E. Leonard.
OF the way his 13-year-old
shack screens the District Build
ing from the Avenue of Presi-
dents, he says. 1--WE think of 1t
as a clean apron over a dirty
dress"
The shack. the street address
of which is 1850 Pennsylvania
avenue NV, was built in one
day on January S. 1912. early in
World War II. to house the now
defunct Home Listing Off1ces. It
operated under the District De-
fense Council to handle listing
of living spaces for a heavy
influx of war workers to the
Capital.
BackstOps Grandstands.
Setting on what used to be the
"lawn" of the District Building,
it serves to backstop the grand
stands and platform regularly
erected in front of 1t whenever
distinguished visitors come to
Washington. They stop there
during their parade to the White
House to receive greetings from
the District Commissioners and
keys to the city.
OF the ugly shack. Col. Leonard
recalls his agency has had it for
exactly nine years. Before that,
he says, it served as a ration CEN
ter. a blood donor center and a
tuberculosis test center.
Col. Leonard indicates the
shack has been somewhat of a
headache to him personally,
pointing out that he himself had
the building painted.
Conceding that the shack is Of
purely temporary construction,
he says he makes no defense of
the building as such.
Three Major Advantages.
1t does, however, have three
major advantages as a Veterans
Service Center" he insists. These
are. Col. Leonard declares:
I'd Central location-which he
calls a necessary convenience for
the 125 service veterans who visit
there on the average day.
(2) It is near ground level.
Col. Leonard regards this as vital
because of the number of am
putees and wheel-chair patients
who visit the Office
CD Its location is widely known
"a product of the nine years
at that site.
If the shack were torn down,
he says. the only move that
would not impair the work of
the center would be to the
ground floor of the District
Building.
However, Col. Leonard says.
getting such space would be a
virtual impossibility in view Of
present demand for office space
throughout the District govern
ment.
Renovation of the old District
Building itself has been fire.
stymied by existence of
plans to put up something called
a West Administration Build
ing" at Fifth street and Indiana
avenue NV.
This nebulous building would
match the present Municipal
Building at Third street and
Indiana avenue NV. and COM
plete a proposed two-building
Municipal Center.
Plans Repeatedly Deferred.
Upon completion Of this prof.
ect df 1t we're ever completely !,
the old District Building would
be abandoned and the land, per-
haps. turned over to the Federal
Government for development as
part of the Federal Triangle.
which surrounds it.
The plans, however, have
been repeatedly postponed as
construction dates for the West
Administration Building have
been set back repeatedly. Under
the Districts recently enacted
public works program. the West