Evening Star Newspaper, June 28, 1931, Page 82

THE SUNDAY STAR, W One-Third of a Billion Dollars £ Washington, Amer- ica’s Most Beautiful City Today, Will Be the Dream City of the World for All Ages When Stupendous Building Program Now UnderWayWill Have Been Com- pleted—A Review of the Work Now 1n Progress, With a Bird’s-Eve View of the Finished Project. Looking up the Pennsylvania avenue of tomorrow, from Sixth street to Fifteenth. The buildings represented (from left are as follows: The United States Coast Guard Building, from Sixth to Seventh street; the monumental Archives Bui ing from Tenth to Twelfth street, not yet determined; at Twelfth street will be the entrance to the “Great Circle,” in t new Post Office. From Thirteenth street to Fourteenth, between Pennsylvania and Constitution avenues, will be the g of Labor and a new building proposed to replace the Southern Railway Building and the District Building. At Fourtd EDITOR'S NOTE.—Dr. George C. Havenner, the author of this article, has been active in the civic affairs of the Nation’s Capital for about 40 years. He is now serving his third term as president of the Federation of Citizens’ Associations. He is also president of the Anacostia Citi- zens' Association, a member of the Washington Chamber of Commerce, a member of the District of Columbia Bicentennial Commission, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Community Chest of Washington, D. C., and of the Children’s Hospital, and a member of the District of Columbia Committee on Em- ployment. ICKELS and dimes! How many nickels or how many dimes are in a third of a billion dollars? How long will it be before the third of a billion dollars that Congress has authcrized or appropriated for er- penditure in remaking the Capital City is changed into nickels and dimes with which to purchase the necessities of man—jood, clothing and shelter. . Let some of our economists answer these two questions, because sooner or later this third of a billion dollars is going to reach the mnickel and dime state so that man can purchase the Rmecessities of life. N 1926 the Congress by an act of May 2§ launched the Federal Government into a $150,000,000 public buildings' program for the econstruction of buildings for Federal offices throughout the United States, of which sum $50,000,000 was for the purchase of sites and the construction of buildings for Federal pur- poses in the District of Columbia. Since the passage of the act of May 25, 1926, Congress has passed numerous authorization acts for the purchase of land and for the construction of buildings or other major projects in and around the District of Columbia that bring the total of the expenditures to be made for re- making the Nation's Capital up to the stu- pendous sum of nearly a third of a billiom dollars. As the remaking of the Nation's Capital is not confined to any one section of the city, let us look around and see where and how our Capital City is being remade. A city embracing an area of only 80 square miles, of which 69 square miles represent Jand and 11 square miles water, and one that has lving within its boundaries 486,000 people. In 1932 the people of these United States will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of George Washington, the loungler of the city that bears his name and that is the Capital City of the greatest nation of all times. Today Washington is the most beautiful city in America if not the most beautiful city in the world. When all the work has been completed that is to be paid for out of this third of a billion dollars Washington will be the dream city of all ages. No other nation has ever authorized for expenditure in its capital city during any previous five-year period any such sum of money as the Congress of the United States has authorized for expenditure in the Capital City of the United States. Starting with the 1926 $50,000,000 auhoriza- tion let us se: for what purposes this third of a billion dollars has been or is to be spent, and what progress is being made in the remaking of the city. This third of a billion dollars was authorized for the acquisition of sites and the erection thereon of public buildings, the build- ing of a monumental memorial bridge across the Potomac River leading to the Arlington National Cemetery, the construction of a great memorial boulevard connecting the Nation's Capital with Mount Vernon, the.home and the shrine of George Washington; the establishing of a memorial parkway along both banks of the Potomac River from Mount Vernon to the Great Falls on the Virginia side and from Fort Washington to the Great Falls on the Maryland side of the river, and for the purchase of land for parks and playgrounds in every section of the City of Washington. Some of the numerous congressional authori- zations for major Federal and District projects entering into the remaking of the Federal City follow: The public buildings act of May 25, 1926, autho!ized to be ap- propriated for projects in the District of Columbia The act of January 5, 1927, for relocating the Botanic Gardens authorized an appropriation of The act of March 1, 1927, for the construction of new conserva- tories for the Botanic Gardens authorized an appropriation of The act of March 4, 1927, to estab- lish a national arboretum au- thorized an appropriation of.. Under th2 act of January 13, 1928, the Secretary of the Treasury was authorized to acquire cer- tain lands within the Dist:ict of Columbia to be used for sites for public buildings at a cost of not to exceed The act of May 21, 1928, for the purchase of a site for an addi- tion to the Library of Congress authorized an appropriation of The act of January 10, 1929, for an addition to the House Office Building authorized an appro- The act of February 25, 1929, for the enlargement of Bolling Field authorized an appropriation of ‘The act of February 27, 1929, for the erection of a public ware- house for the storage of Govern- ment supplies authorized an appropriation of The act of March 4, 1929, for the enlargement of the Capitol Grounds authorized an appro- The act of December 20, 1929, for the United States Supreme Court Building authorized an appropriation of The public buildings act of March 31, 1930, authorized appropria- tions for the purchase of land and the construction of build- ings in the District of Columbia amounting to The act of February 28, 1929, authorized the Commissioners New Administration Building of the Department of Agriculture. 1,750,000 4,912,414 115,000,000 BY GEORGI An illustration of the architect from Fourteenth street at the Building), surrounded on thre Fourteenth street will run proposed new Post Office of the District of Columbia to acquire all of squares 490, 491, 533 and reservation 10 for a new municipal center. For the purchase of this property ap- prop:iations have been made amounting to The act of March 4, 1929, for the acquisition of land and the con- struction of two modern, high- temperature incinerators author- ized an appropriation of The act of May 29, 1930, known as the Capp:r-Cramton act, for the purchase of park lands and playground sites in the District of Columbia authorized a loan from the Federal Treasury to the Distiict of Columbia of.... For the construction of the first unit or’courts building in the *new Municipal Center Congress has authorized in the 1932 Dis- trict bill an appropriation of... Estimated balance necessary to complete the new Municipal - Center under the ge@neral au- thorization of F:bruary 28, 1929, exclusive of the amount that the District Government will Teckive from the Federal Gov- ernment for its present Mu- nicipal Building The act of February 24, 1925, for the construction of the Arling- ton Memorial Bridge authorized an appropriation of For th: Mount Vernon Boulevard to connect Mount Vernon with . the Arlington Memorial Bridge the act of May 23, 1928, and the second deficiency act of 1930. made available . For the George Washington Me-~ morial Parkway along both banks of the Potomac River and