International studio (33.1907/1908(1908))

The Washington Plan


sites, and at the time of writing the placing of the
Grant Memorial is still under discussion.
But as I have said, this was only the beginning;
beyond the Monument lay a tract of land reclaimed
from the river, nearly a mile in length and almost
undeveloped. The addition of this area enlarged the
opportunity and gave splendid play for landscape
art. The lines drawn through the Monument from
the Capitol and the White House were continued
to the river bank, which curves between these
points. At the termination of each, sites were
designated for public monuments—the proposed
Lincoln Memorial on the line of the monuments to
Grant and Washington, and the monument to the
■“Constitution Builders,” or other illustrious men
on the axis of the White House. The land inter-
vening between the Monument and the White
House it was proposed to make into a sunken garden,
and that between the Monument and the Lincoln
Memorial, which, by the way, is near the eastern
approach of the proposed memorial bridge to
Arlington, into a People’s Park. A wood was to be
planted, according to this plan, a common made, a
stadium built, and bathing beaches provided; the
welfare of the inhabitants being regarded as well
as pictorial effect. And all this, as it must be done
gradually, might be done at comparatively little
cost, provided each step be taken with the con-
summation of the whole in view.
Passing, then, from a consideration of the Mall,
it will be found that the Commission urged the
purchase by the Government of all the land lying

south of Pennsylvania Avenue between the Capitol
and the Treasury, the avenue and the Mall, which
is now occupied chiefly by old and unsightly build-
ings, small stores, warehouses and tenements, and
they suggested that in this section municipal
buildings, such as the post-office, armory, police
court and city hall be placed. The last (known as
the District Building), located in this section, though
not on the site proposed, has since been erected
and is now almost ready for occupancy.
Thus having bettered the heart of the city, the
Commission next gave consideration to its ap-
proaches and gateways. The water front, which in
almost every city in the United States has been
wofully neglected, was prospectively improved,
and a site for a Union Station selected. It is no
disgrace to put one’s best foot forward, but
American cities have, it would seem, rather prided
themselves upon presenting the worst to view by
parading in a pronounced way their poverty and
dirt. As yet nothing has been done to the Washing-
ton water front, through preliminary work to this
end is begun, but, through the broad-mindedness
of the late Mr. Cassatt and the genius of Mr.
Burnham, Washington has now an inland gateway
of which the nation may be proud. The Union
Station, which has only been occupied since last
November, and is still scarcely completed, is
located on the site suggested by the Park Com-
mission and stands, at a distance of half a mile,
facing the north wing of the Capitol. Because it
bore certain relationship to the public buildings in
Washington, it was thought desirable to have it
classic in design, and its architecture goes back to
pure Roman motives. The central portion is derived
directly from the Arch of Constantine, and the
wings have been merely brought into practical sub-


cxiv