McMillan Plan
Beginning around 1880, a series of articles appeared in local D.C. and national press, which were highly critical of the mediocre architecture and poor-quality public spaces and accommodations in the District of Columbia.
[6] The commission members (excluding Saint-Gaudens, who was ill with cancer)[7] and Moore departed for Europe on June 13, 1901, to tour the continent's great manor homes, gardens, and urban landscapes.
[8] The commission sponsored a major exhibit about their proposals at the Corcoran Gallery of Art on January 15, 1902, the same day the report was released to the public.
[12] The proposals for the city's parks, beaches, and recreational facilities (ostensibly the reason for its existence) were treated in more general ways.
The recently created East Potomac Park would anchor the southern end of the north–south axis, and be occupied by a vast complex of recreational facilities ("Washington Commons") as well as a possible new memorial (to the Founding Fathers or great inventors, the report suggested).
The north and south sides of the National Mall were to be lined with low public office buildings, museums, and cultural attractions (such as theaters).
The plan also suggested constructing a low, Beaux-Arts bridge linking West Potomac Park with Arlington National Cemetery.
A new, modern train station with a grand court and massive passenger waiting and service areas would be constructed north of the Capitol.
The Ellipse would remain open space in order to preserve the vista from the White House south to the Washington Monument and the Potomac River.
New York Avenue NW would be extended in a southwesterly direction past the White House to link with the new memorial in West Potomac Park.
The flats (like West and East Potomac Parks) had recently been reclaimed by dumping dredged material along the riverbank to eliminate marshes.
The commission suggested building roads to provide access to the Anacostia River and constructing a large water park for boating, bathing, swimming, and other uses to draw development to the area.
[16] Linking the more important parks would be a series of parkways, designed to allow citizens in carriages (the automobile not having come into widespread use) to become emotionally refreshed by viewing nature.
A new United States Department of Agriculture building had long been proposed for the south side of the National Mall between 7th and 14th Streets SW.
However, McMillan Plan advocates argued that agriculture headquarters should be set back from the center of the National Mall by 300 feet (91 m).
President Theodore Roosevelt gave his approval for the construction of a new agriculture building in line with the Smithsonian headquarters, only to later learn that his decision violated the McMillan Plan (which he also supported).
Agriculture officials then argued that if they had to accept a smaller plot of land, they should be permitted to construct a taller building to compensate for the loss of space.
An extensive disagreement broke out between Agriculture officials, members of Congress intent on keeping costs low, McMillan Plan advocates, and others about where the building should be placed and how tall it should be.
[20] Arlington Memorial Bridge was authorized in 1925 after President Warren G. Harding got caught in a three-hour traffic jam during the dedication of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
It proposed the creation of new "federal centers" through the city (away from the monumental core) and redevelopment of the Washington Channel and Anacostia River waterfronts.
[24] A joint initiative of the NCPC, the National Park Service, and the government of the District of Columbia, CapitalSpace is designed to implement six of the major unfinished proposals of the McMillan Plan.
A traffic circle with a large field (to be used for public gatherings and suitable for several new memorials) will connect the north end of the bridge with Potomac Avenue SW. A second massive traffic oval on the south end of the bridge will help connect it to Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and help expand the city's "monumental core" into Anacostia.
The remainder of the budgeted funds will help remodel South Capitol Street into an urban boulevard from an industrial corridor, and renovate New Jersey Avenue SE.
The design partnership of Weiss/Manfredi + OLIN won a portion of the competition to redesign the Washington Monument grounds and the nearby Sylvan Theater.
Although a significant effort was made in 1960 to begin razing the historic homes around Lafayette Square, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy opposed their destruction and successfully lobbied Congress and the General Services Administration to retain the structures.
A third central unbuilt recommendation of the McMillan Plan involved the extensive "Washington Commons" recreational area on East and West Potomac Parks along the southern side of the Tidal Basin.
The McMillan Plan envisioned extensive public bathing and swimming facilities along the Potomac River's edge here, as well as several athletic fields, several gymnasiums, and a stadium.
Additionally, a significant new Neoclassical or Beaux-Arts memorial would be constructed along the White House-Washington Monument axis to serve as the southern anchor of the cruciform National Mall plan.
However, by then, the Great Depression was underway, and funds to complete the Tidal Basin in the form envisioned by the McMillan Plan were no longer available.
A final unbuilt recommendation of the McMillan Plan was the concept of grouping a large number of executive branch office buildings around the United States Congress.
