Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-12-04

Washington scene has caused as
intense controversy as this one.
Petitions and letters signed by
hundreds of residents Of Fairfax
County have been sent to the
NCPC.
The disputed site is usually
referred to as the Langley site.
Langley is a Y in the road a
little beyond the entrance to
the Public Roads Research sta
ton. The left fork goes to Nc
Lean: the right to Great Falls
Park. A white frame church. a
couple of houses and a filling
station are at the Y. But in
every direction are attractive
houses, many Of them on plots
of several acres or more.
The large brick house occu-
pied by Supreme Court Justice
Robert H. Jackson until his
death last year. now being re-
modelled for Senator John Ken
'nedy of Massachusetts,. is a short
distance from the Y on the road
to Mclean.
1t is understandable that such
householders do not want
change. but some consider IL
inevitable. Some have signed
the petitions asking CHA to look
elsewhere: some have signed the
petitions approving its coming
A larger public has been in
tereSted in the release of data
indicating the size Of the agency
The agency's function is to finc
out what is going on in this puz.
cling world ian activity romanti.
Icized as CLOAK and dagger") anc
to coordinate it with informa-
ton from other intelligence gath
erers such as those of the State
Department and of the Army
Navy and Air Force.
1t was the proposed move tc
Langley and the request for a
building fund of $56 million
the cost is now estimated at $5(
million-that brought the size
iof the organization to light.
The number Of CHA employees is
still secret. But CHA felt that II
The guessing game began in
earnest when the same study
revealed that the parking lot
proposed for the agency would
hold 1000 cars. Other traffic
studies have indicated that an
average of 2.5 persons are car
ried to work in cars parked at
Government buildings. That
would make 10000 persons ar
irving by automobile alone-not
counting those arriving by pub
lie transportation-buses.
16,100 Is Too High
When the estimate on the size
of the proposed building was
submitted at the Senate hearing
I2.3 million square feet gross. one
Of the opponents got busy with
his pencil. II. he figured. the
net office space would be 10 per
cent Of the gross "a low figure)
1T would total 100000. II the
Bureau of the Budget recommen-
dation Of one employee to 100
square feet of Office space were
followed, the total employees
would be 16,100. Mr.. Dulles said
this was an exaggeration.
At any rate it is going to be
a tremendous building far
larger than the Department of
Commerce. for instance. 1t would
be the second largest among the
Government buildings. The larg-
est is the mammoth Pentagon
with 6.545.900 gross square feet.
Next would come the new CHA
building with its % million
square feet.
Whether 1t will be one or
several buildings is still tenta-
tive but economy and security
favor a single building and 1t
will be a whopper.
The agency. Congress has been
informed, is now located in 81
buildings, 20 of them temporary
buildings, some Of them used as
WAVE barracks in World War
III. The headquarters is in the
old Naval Medical dispensary at
.2340 E. street NV