PURPOSE AND NEED FOR SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDS Public Law 128 (as amended by Public Law 491) created the District of Columbia Auditorium Commission to formulate plans for the construction in the District of Columbia of a national civic auditorium, including an Inaugural Hall of Presidents and a music, fine arts, and mass communication center. The sum of $150,000 is requested to meet the expense of the Commission in carrying out its functions from October 25, 1955, the date of its first meeting, to January 31, 1957, when its report must be submitted. As capital of the United States, Washington is a source of pride and interest to every American and serves as showplace of the Nation to visiting foreigners. But it has long been lacking some of the cultural and civic facilities common to other world capitals and befitting its political importance. In the worldwide battle of ideas, this could be harmful to American prestige. The District of Columbia Auditorium Commission was created by Public Law 128 to remedy this lack and to make plans for a permanent cultural and civic center for the Nation. Such a projected national shrine requires the most expert planning to anticipate the needs of the future so that it will be useful for many generations to come. The task is complicated, extensive, and technical, demanding professional knowledge and experience. The Commission, therefore, is following a practice often used in important public construction: It has sought and obtained the voluntary cooperation of eight of the country's foremost architectural and engineering firms to serve on an advisory planning board. The senior members of these firms, like the Commission members, are contributing their services as a patriotic duty. The usual commercial fee for having such experts available on a retainer basis is a half-million to a million dollars. The magnitude of their contribution is evident when it is seen that the total budget for the Commission is only $150,000 and includes expenses of running the Commission, too. About $133,000 of the $150,000 requested is needed to reimburse the planning board firms for out-of-pocket expenses incurred in professional planning for the Commission-salaries of some half dozen staff people, their travel and subsistence expense, cost of supplies and materials, communication, travel expenses for members of the planning board when they meet on Commission business. The planning board is responsible for compiling and analyzing basic technical data for the Commission's guidance. It must do exhaustive research, for instance, on auditoriums, music halls, and other civic and cultural facilities both in the United States and abroad to ascertain cost, maintenance, and operative factors; optimum and minimum sizes for accoustics; nature of events held, their frequency and remunerativeness; efficiency of design over a long period of time. The planning board must look for suitable sites for the center and analyze them in relation to public transportation, population trends, plans for the redevelopment of Washington, zoning, relationship to existing cultural facilities, relationship to main thoroughfares and business districts, size, availability, etc. To make all this material meaningful to the Commission, the planning board must prepare charts, maps, and photos. In addition, it must produce drawings and ideas and plans to translate the research into practical proposals. The remainder of the $150,000 requested, about $17,000, is needed for maintenance and administration of the Commission's offices and servicing Commission members. The Auditorium Commission is to make its final report and recommendations on a national civic and cultural center to the President and the Congress by January 31, 1957. With the assistance of its expert planning board and the many Federal and District of Columbia agencies which are cooperating, the Commission believes the United States Government is making a sound investment for the future through this great project for the public. ATTACHMENT I MEMBERS APPOINTED TO THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AUDITORIUM COMMISSION By the President: Miss Elizabeth B. Howry, Jamestown, R. I. Mr. Frank R. Jelleff, Washington, D. C. Mr. George Murphy, Hollywood, Calif. Mr. James L. Knight, Miami, Fla. Mr. Robert V. Fleming, Washington, D. C. Mr. George Livingston Williams, Washington, D. C. Mrs. Robert Low Bacon, Washington, D. C. By the President of the Senate, Vice President Nixon : Representative James H. Morrison, Louisiana MEMBERS OF PLANNING BOARD, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AUDITORIUM COMMISSION Giffels & Vallet, engineers, 1000 Marquette Building, Detroit, Mich. : Louis Rossetti, K. K. Stowell, Ray Giffels Holabird, Root & Burgee, architects, 180 North Wabash Avenue, Chicago, Ill. : William Holabird MacKie & Kamrath, architects, 2713 Ferndale Place, Houston, Tex.: F. J. MacKie, Jr., Kari Kamrath Pereira & Luckman (coordinating firm), planners, architects and engineers, Los Angeles, Calif., and New York, N. Y. Charles Luckman, William I. Pereira, Charles B. Bennett (executive director of planning board) Reynolds, Smith & Hills, engineers, 227 Park, Jacksonville, Fla.: P. M. Huddleston, Ivan H. Smith Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson & Abbott, architects, 122 Ames Building, Boston, Mass. Joseph P. Richardson, J. P. Carlhian, Mr. Shepley Stanford Research Institute, research, 711 14th Street, NW., Washington, D. C.: George T. Hayes, William S. Royce HOUSE COMMITTEE ACTION Chairman HAYDEN. Who is going to be first? Senator RUSSELL. Did you say the House committee has recommended the full amount? Chairman HAYDEN. Yes. Mrs. MEYER. I am Mrs. Eugene Meyer, but since this is a budgetary matter we would like Mr. Robert Fleming, who is chairman of our finance committee, to testify. Chairman HAYDEN. Mr. Fleming. PLANNING FUNDS Mr. FLEMING. I think I can be fairly brief. This appropriation we ask for, sir, is to formulate plans for the construction in the District of Columbia of a National City Auditorium, including an Inaugural Hall of Presidents, and a music, fine arts, and mass communications center. The sum of $150,000 is requested to meet the expenses of the Commission in carrying out its functions from October 25, 1955, the date of its first meeting, to January 31, 1957, when its report must be submitted. MEMBERSHIP OF COMMISSION This Commission is a bipartisan commission consisting of 21 members, 7 appointed by the President of the United States, 7 by the President of the Senate, and 7 by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. There are present here today: Mrs. Meyer, who is chairman; myself; a Commissioner and chairman of the finance committee; Mrs. Rowe, a member of the Commission; and Mr. Williams, a member of the Commission and also secretary of the Commission. Senator RUSSELL. Is this a nonrecurring appropriation, Mr. Fleming? Mr. FLEMING. Yes, sir. Senator RUSSELL. It is just for drawing plans? Mr. FLEMING. Just for formulating plans; that is correct. When we come to those plans, if then the Congress approves our report, that is another matter. Senator RUSSELL. I understand. Is it solely a fine arts commission auditorium? Is there any stadia or stadium or the like that is connected with it? Mr. FLEMING. There is no athletic stadium connected with it. Frankly, we haven't been able to get too far because we have not had the appropriations. Senator ELLENDER. This is your first appropriation? Mr. FLEMING. Yes, sir. Mrs. MEYER. The Congress passed Public Law 128 last year and set us to work. Senator ELLENDER. You work gratis? Mr. FLEMING. Yes. Senator SALTONSTALL. You have $133,000 out of $150,000 for outof-pocket expenses incurred in professional planning. When you get all through on January 31, 1957, will those plans be plans that can be carried forward and be of value in the architectural work? Mr. FLEMING. They should be of value, yes, but they would not be architectural plans. Senator SALTONSTALL. In other words, it would just be something on which we can base a building, but that money will be gone? Mr. FLEMING. That will be, for instance, selection of site for submittal to Congress, the type of building, but no detailed plans, such as you and I had in connection with the Smithsonian. DUE DATE OF REPORT Chairman HAYDEN. When will the Commission file its report? Mr. FLEMING. Under the enabling act, Public Law 128, it has to be January 31, 1957, sir. Chairman HAYDEN. Is this amount sufficient to let the Commission complete its report? Mr. FLEMING. We think so, sir. I will be very frank to say that in this request for appropriations there is about thirteen or fourteen thousand dollars which might be for unforeseen contingencies, but I can assure you and the gentlemen of the Appropriations Committee that no money will be spent that is not absolutely necessary. We would hope to be under. We may not be. PLANNING BOARD The Planning Board consists of the following: Faulkner, Kingsbury & Stenhouse, architects, Ring Building, Washington, D. C.: Waldron Faulkner. Giffels & Vallet, engineers, 1000 Marquette Building, Detroit, Mich. : Louis Rossetti, K. K. Stowell, Ray Giffels. Holabird, Root & Burgee, architects, 180 North Wabash Avenue, Chicago, Ill.: William Holabird. MacKie & Kamrath, architects, 2713 Ferndale Place, Houston, Tex.: F. J. MacKie, Jr., Karl Kamrath. Pereira & Luckman (coordinating firm), planners, architects and engineers, Los Angeles, Calif., and New York, N. Y.: Charles Luckman, William I. Pereira, Charles B. Bennett (executive director of Planning Board). Reynolds, Smith & Hills, Engineers, 227 Park, Jacksonville, Fla.: P. M. Huddleston, Ivan H. Smith. Shepley-Bulfinch, Richardson & Abbott, Architects, 122 Ames Building, Boston, Mass.: Joseph P. Richards, J. P. Carlhian, Mr. Shepley. Stanford Research Institute, Research, 711 14th Street NW., Washington, D. C.: George T. Hayes, William S. Royce. They are the Planning Board. VOLUNTEER SERVICES That Planning Board is not charging for their service a profit. We are paying the expenses of their staff in inspection of Europe and other places of that sort in this $133,000. Mrs. MEYER. They are volunteering their services. Mr. FLEMING. Yes. Senator ELLENDER. Has this Commission given any thought as to how any buildings or property may be financed? Mr. FLEMING. That will be in our report, sir. We have not gotten that far yet. Senator ELLENDER. You are not planning to saddle it on the Federal Government, are you? Mr. FLEMING. I think that will be up to the Federal Government, Senator. Senator ELLENDER. We have been having this thing bob up every now and then for quite some time. It has been my thought that the District of Columbia should bear the most of it. Mr. FLEMING. We haven't, of course, gotten that far, Senator ELLENDER. I am hoping that the Commission will recommend that the District of Columbia bear most of the cost. Mr. FLEMING. Of course, I can't answer that question, because I am just one member of the Commission. Senator ELLENDER. The same as all other communities. We have it in our own area. We bear the cost. Mr. FLEMING. We have a statement, which I think is before the Appropriations Committee, of justification, the same as we submitted to the House committee. I would like to file that for the record. Chairman HAYDEN. That has been included in the record. Are there any further questions, gentlemen? If not, we thank you for your appearance. Mr. FLEMING. Thank you very much. Chairman HAYDEN. The committee will recess until 2 o'clock tomorrow afternoon. (Whereupon, at 10:05 p. m., Monday, July 9, 1956, a recess was taken until 2 p. m., Tuesday, July 10, 1956.) |