Capitol Punishment

The most noteworthy characteristic of the 90th Congress has been its time-consuming concern with internal organization and related matters, such as campaign financing and ethics. Although this preoccupation has delayed much essential business, a Congressional reform on its own Capitol Hill architectural policies would justify the time spent.

Development of Capitol grounds is now under the control of the Architect of the Capitol, J. George Stewart, a former Republican Representative from Delaware (1935-7). Stewart develops, commissions, and executes his own plans for Capitol Hill. He is restricted only by his need to obtain Congressional approval for particular projects and by the influences of Congressional leaders--the House Speaker and the House and Senate Minority Leaders. The National Capital Planning Commission and the Fine Arts Commission are responsible for reviewing architectural and development plans elsewhere in D.C., but neither has any jurisdiction on Capitol Hill.

Since Stewart became the Architect in 1954, more than $250 million has been spent or authorized for Capitol Hill construction. And yet he admits that it was done piecemeal without a comprehensive master plan. Under Stewart, who is not an architect but has had some experience as a landscape contractor, the East Front of the Capitol was extended, the Rayburn House Office Building was built, remodeling was undertaken, and parking garages were built. Currently plans amounting to $109 million have been approved for an extension of the Capitol's West Front and for a third Library of Congress annex. In every case, a small, rotating group of architects--mostly friends of Stewart, Speaker McCormack or former Speaker Sam Rayburn--have won contracts for the projects. And in every case, the new construction brought nothing but outrage and revulsion from experts, who objected on economic, historical, and architectural grounds.

Arguing for Stewart's new extension project, McCormack has said that "It will improve the esthetic quality of the west side, while at the same time preserving its essential characteristics." What he considers "essential characteristics" is unclear, for the proposed changes would bury the last remnants of the Capitol portion designed by William Thornton in the 1790's and Charles Bulfinch in the 1820's. It would also replace the steps and terrace designed by Frederick Law Olmstead.

Stewart never carried out his plan to seek funds for the extension in 1966 because of the hostile reception it met in the Senate. The current economic squeeze may forestall the extension again this year, but with the Congressional leaders solidly behind it, eventual success is likely. Like the East Front extension, which was approved in 1958 and funded a few years later, Stewart's present proposal seems inescapable.

To avoid such a blunder, Congress should pass one of several proposed bills which would curb Stewart and his Congressional allies and which provide that the National Capital Planning Commission, Fine Arts Commission, and architectural profession participate in the planning of all construction in the nation's capital.