Evening star., 1961-01-26


q matter of fact the sun hat
; melted the ice and condition.
were not dangerous at the tim,
the warning was made.
He also criticized q news.
paper for bannering a predic.
ton Of snow which ruined al
ordinarily busy shopping nigh
and snow did not materialize
Realtors Criticized
Leonard B. Doggett, jr., pas
president Of the Washington
Parking Association gave thu
realtors something to think
about by criticizing the Rea
Estate Board for supporting
plans for public parking undel
Farragut Square. The boarc
stood against public housing
but supported public ,housini
Of automobiles. he complained
Frank j. Luchs, president
Of the board, who moderated
the meeting. said the boarc
supported the Farragut Square
project because 1t would be
operated privately after con.
struction with public funds.
Mr.. Doggett answered thai
the cost of the project would
be hard TO- recover with or.
dinary parking charges, but
that the real reason, for his
associations opposition was
that the addition Of little more
than 400 parking spaces with
public funds could shut off
financing for all private park
ing projects in the District.
He pointed to the settled
policy Of a large insurance
company against any lending
on private parking projects in
areas where public parking
facilities exist. This project will
do great harm, he warned.
] Urges Legislation
Robert H. Levi, president of
the Hecht Co. said building
permits in the District show q
significant amount of mod
ernization. which indicates
faith that something will be
done to improve downtown.
But he said no. large new
projects are planned because
downtown proposals have not
been visionary enough to
Justify major new construc-
tion.
! The District Is the only city
in the Nation that does not
have the legal power for urban
renewal. he said. Legislation
giving other cities this power
was passed following the pas
sage Of Federal laws by Con-
greSs. he pointed out.
l'onald c. Rosinski Of Carl
C. Sosinski Co. gave one of the
me It enthusiastic sales talks on
downtown heard in recent
years. You can't sell downtown
unless you are enthusiastic and
you can't be enthusiastic un-
less you understand the basic
values Of downtown, he de.
clared. -.-
mo city in the country Is AZ
fine and grand as this city,"
he said. When my father
started In business here, he
Dragged that Metropolitan
Area population exceeded 600,-
900 and now it exceeds 2 mil
lion.
He Dragged about q Federal
payroll Of $l6s million and now
1t exceeds SIS billion. The
huge tourist business is q gift
to downtown"
In one block Of less than
two acres rentals exceed $780,
900. and property values, en-
ployment and buying power
packed into q few blocks OF
downtown dwarf anything that
can be. found in the suburbs,
he added. Downtown East will
become q great new modern
section, he predicted. when
you sell downtown, don't sell II
short" he cautioned.
Store Fronts Changed
Architect Edmund w. Drey-
fuss, another panel speaker,
praised the new 1851 building
code. which went into effect
January 1, but he said mer.
chants should pay attention to
new provisions which prohibit
the projection Of store fronts
Of new buildings for three feet
into public space after June 80
this year.
The three-foot projections
were permitted by previous
codes. If q merchants front
windows project into public
space and he needs to improve
them he will not be able to
after June 80. he warned. Any
changes later will involve the
loss Of the public space. The
new code is q good one and was
needed badly. he added.
Julian Kaye Of Cosy Corner
past president Of the Connect :
cut Avenue Businessmen's As
sociation. said all organiza tions
try to create a good corporate
image, and that an improved
downtown image Is needed.
The downtown image is a
composite Of individual store
images and q major factor Is
trained store personnel to
please the customer and create
public good will and trust, he
said. The downtown image Ia
created on the sales floor, he
declared.
Richard A. Steen Of Lewis
d Thos. Saltz, stressed the I'm
portance Of capable executives
and administrators in promot-
ing aggressive downtown pol
icies. His firm believes one top
flight man is worth more than