Evening Star Newspaper, June 10, 1935, Page 47

No Other City in the World Offers So Beau- tiful a Network of Parks ancd Drives as Does the Nation's (';xi\i(.;], Sct ina Veritable Forest of Luxurious T'rees. BY WILLIAM MILLEN. ARKED chuanges hi beer wrought in the Was glon park systam in the Jast dozen yecar: s0 that the returning visitor will notice newer features among his old friends The old lady of downtown ngton—the Iall—is having her face lifted, 1t is true. and wre formal raiment 1s being prescribed by the uthorities. But fringing the Muall. the oity's wonumental park, stretehing from the Capitol lome te the shaft of the Washington Monument, s a row of elaborate Government buildings, add- ng a new setting, valued at many million dollars, The park authorities promise that soon the all will be completed, with its quartet of motor drives and its precise rows of trees, with he main feature the great central vista. from he official home of the Nation's legislators to he towering pile, raised to the Fuather of His Country. just south of the White House, From this focal point, the Mall, vicitors can ranch out into many exquisite park drives that parnish the salad that is Washington. An indi- ation of the future development of the Mall an be gatned from the project now t hed be- ween Twelfth and Fourteenth streets, Rock Creck Pirk is about the same as of ore. The park officials here consider this un- isual among city parks For. they say, where ould you find such a lovely sylvan setting in the ery heart of a population of halt & million? It s but a short space from the hub-bub of F “treet and Connecticut avenue to the bucolic peace of the waters of Rock Creek, with giant eray boulders beneath the wildwood. Redbud nd dogwood have their home here. But progress, measured by a dozen years, has left its imprint oven on Rock Creck Park. 1In the lower end of the valley, near K street, they are building a new park drive. A new road been built, in recent years, in the upper section to the District line, adding new delignts for the motorist. And. under the aegis of the Maryland- National Capital Park and Planning Commis- sion the Maryland authorities have extended the drive northward in the rural valley from the District line to the East-West Highway. Plans have already been approved for carrying this drive still farther upstream. HE fleeting years have built up a magnificent park on Meridian Hill. Little wonder it is that the park superintendent, C. Marshall Finnan, describes this development as “‘unusual for a city park.” 1In the hub of busy life at Sixteenth and Euclid streets there are the Jovely cascades, the formal treatment of an Italian garden and the peace of greensward, far above the city. The National Zoological Park, although under the Smithsonian Institution and not in the kecping of the National Capital parks of the Vight vicw an Potonae Parl, along the Tidal Basin. < -~ 9y 5 One of the overpasses on the Mount Vernon Memorial Boulevard, a beauti- ful drive along southern bank of the Potomac which links the Nation's Capital with the home of George W ashington. ~—Photo by Horydczak, showing the Washington Monument under brilliant illumination. — FhLoto by Horydezuk —Photo by Horydczak. National Park Service, Interior Department, as are the other parks here, is geographically s part of the Rock Creek development. It is possible to motor now from the East-West Highway, near Silver Spring, Md., all the way down the valley to the new P Street Bridge. The Soldiers’ Home is another area that ® surrounded by stately trees and acres of greene ery that may be considered quasi-park in nae ture, but this is under the Army authoritics, Of course, the newest development in park drives of which Washington can boast is the Mount Vernon Memorial Highway, that runs from the Capital City to the home of George Washington—and his last resting place. Con= structed as a testimonial to the Washington Bicentennial Celebration in 1932. this driveway along the banks of the Potomac River is prove ing an ever-increasing rendezvous for motorists, This is considered the last word in hizchway construction and its broad vistas—six traffic lanes wide in places—bespeak its memorial character. This without question is one of the finest drives in America, for, apart from the section that passes through the City of Alex- andria, Va, there is no cross traffic encountered and trucks are barred. y The Mount Vernon Memorial Highway is bat a link in the projected George Washington Memorial Parkway that will stretch in the years to be from Great Falls southward to “Mount Vernon and to Fort Washington, Md. At Roaches Run on the highway is a bird sanctuary, being constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Potomac Park, famed of Japanese cherry blossoms, is another park drive that invites interest. There has been little change there, A peninsula jutting out into the waters of the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers, East Potomac Park is more popular than ever as a motor drive, particularly in the hot weather. West Potomac Park, with its magnificent Linzoln Memorial, famed the world over, and its more newly constructed District of Columbia World War Memorial, is one of the city's beauty spots, too. ACROSS the city, eastward, lies Anacostia Park, which is getting to be popular as well, It will come into its own when the engineers get money enough to finish the park drives up the valley and acquire the famous water lily gardens. But as it stands today., Anacostia Park is attractive and the crab apple blossoms enchance its value. It affords opportunity for many recreational activities and the way these are patronized is a testimonial to its usefulness. Visitors may visualize how Union Square— being developed just west of the Capitol—will look when finished by viewing the model on display at the main entrance to the Navy Build- ing, Eighteenth street and Constitution avenue, The old Botanic Garden that used to occupy that site, is gone, and the new garden arises to the southward. The well known downtown city parks, such as Franklin, Lafayette, McPherson, Farragut, have been modernize In some cases, new walks have been constructed in them and extensive tree surgery, under Public Works Administrae tion allotments, has been undertaken. This is calculated to improve the appearance of these areas, " In the far-flung park system of Washingtor there are innumerable recreational activities, Foot ball and base ball, archery, tennis, golf polo, soft ball and many ofher sports have their proper places. The park authorit.cs are endeavoring to extend these ao _ur as possible, Hand in hand with the National Capital Pax and Planning Commission, officials of the Nae tional Capital parks are preparing ns for future developments, such as the projected stadium and National Guard Armory, at the foot of East Capitol street on the banks of the Anacostia River; the Fort drive that will Jink up the circle of Civil War forts, and a nurer ol swimming pools,