Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-03-17
East Mall

Of an East Mall was a rea-
sonably good one but now it
is merely a wasteful one. and
! wonder why the planners
have not caught up and
caught on. ANY map will show
that the city's four quarters
meet under the Capitol dome,
with the Southwest quarter
exactly as far from that dome
as are the three other Sec
tons; and since nearly all
n-Government buildings in
the old Southwest are al
ready demolished or about to
be, why in the ever-taxpay-
ing world should further
great slabs be carved from
the Southeast and Northeast
to provide space for public
buildings? The space is
already available-and very
accessible space, too. And
very costly.
Another point: When an
observer looks from the rear
door of the Capitol he sees
a great Mall extending west
to the Potomac. The reason
he can see this park is that
the land falls away. leaving
an unobstructed view. But
let him look from the front
(east) door and what does he
see?-the Library Of Congress
and the Supreme Court, very
handsome buildings but quite
opaque. II a Mall existed to
the east it might make a
pretty pattern from the air
balancing the west mall"
but no earthbound person
would ever be aware Of it.
Since World War II a num-
Der of hardy citizens have
been working to upgrade the
neighborhood near the Capt.
toll. These are mostly profess
sional people who work on
the Hill and can walk to their
Offices without adding to the
city's traffic problems. They
hope to make. not a fashion,
able area, but a well-kept one,
and they have been working
against heavy odds. If then
a strip four blocks wide and
more than a mile long is
sliced out, the remaining mar
row fringes will hold little at
traction for them. for after
all. a certain amount of depth
is needed to make a complete
neighborhood with service
areas to support the resi-
denceS.
I am disturbed by thoughts
of a city where homes yield
precedence to cars: where a
cultural center is to be off
center; where a stadium in a
too-small area win cause traf-
fic jams which will have to
compete with other traffic
jams; where ill-considered
plans for speedways will Gre
ate as many problems as they
solve.
Washington belongs to the
country az well as to its resi-
dents. If we use our brains
and our hearts. we can do a
better job for it, and we
should do a better job.
w. T. S.
Il 4 \ y
Some planner with a re-
tarded aesthetic education
says. Lets have an East Mall
taking area There should
be some plan for orderly Fed
eral expansion. so you edito-
rally indorse this idea with
out examining it. This is
leadership?
Do you ask whether any
agencies wish to locate in this
area? If so, why have they
baked at using the South
west Mall? How will the ordi-
nary employees get to Offices
east of the Capitol?
More important, what are
the referents of the label
taking area? What about
the people involved? What
does this do to those who
bought a house in the East
Mall area because Of the in
cipient regeneration of the
neighborhood? Does the bill
removing this area from the
Western Hemisphere guaran-
tee the alienability of this
property. or is it a go-ahead
for even more advanced dete-
rioration of what was once
the city's best neighborhood?
Does the bill provide funds
for the physical and moral
well-being of the home own
er's bionts amid the
wreckage until the great
come-and-take-it day ar
rives? Did the Foggy Bottom
taking area experiment do
more than provide a large
unsupported parking lot
and a cheap site for an in
surance company?