Mc Millan Plan - Implementation of The Plan

Implementation of The Plan

Implementation of the McMillan Plan was opposed by the powerful Speaker of the House, Joseph Gurney Cannon. Cannon was angry that the Senate had bypassed the House in creating the commission, and he was strongly opposed to spending the enormous sums that it would take to complete the plan. Although Moore had implemented a carefully planned public relations campaign to win congressional and public support for the McMillan Plan, it was clear that seeking formal approval of the plan from Congress was out of the question due to Cannon's opposition. Instead, members of the commission worked strenuously to ensure that the plan was not encroached upon, while waiting for a more opportune time to seek its implementation. Backers of the plan in Congress regularly called upon commission members to testify before Congress and in public hearings to defend the plan.

One of the most important goals of the McMillan Plan was to demolish the B&P Railroad Passenger Terminal. This proposal had generated widespread support in Congress for years, and on May 15, 1902, legislation was passed authorizing construction of a new Union Station. Although extensive disagreement broke out in the House over reimbursing the Pennsylvania Railroad for the cost of moving its tracks, legislation providing this reimbursement passed in 1903. The terminal was demolished in 1908.

The first major threat to implementing the McMillan Plan came in 1904. 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. The Department of Agriculture wanted to use all the space alloted to it, but McMillan Plan advocates argued that agriculture headquarters should be set back from the center of the National Mall by 300 feet (91 m). Department of Agriculture officials, however, pointed out that the 300-foot (91 m) setback from the mall's center-line was already violated on the south side of the mall by the Smithsonian Institution Building. President Theodore Roosevelt gave his approval for 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. Extensive disagreement broke out between Agriculture officials, members of Congress intent on keeping costs low, McMillan Plan advocates, and others not only about where the building should be placed but also how tall it should be. The new Agriculture Building was eventually built according to the McMillan Plan's 300-foot (91 m) setback line, and slightly lowered into the ground to accommodate the building's taller height.

The next major test of the McMillan Plan came with the siting of the Lincoln Memorial. A Lincoln Memorial Commission was authorized by Congress in 1910, and the commission immediately began wrestling with the many competing proposals for the memorial's location. Concurrently, members of the disbanded McMillan Commission were tiring of the constant demands on their time and the unpaid nature of their role. President Roosevelt agreed that a permanent commission on the arts should be created to help guide decisions regarding art and architecture in accordance with the McMillan Plan. Roosevelt established a commission by executive order shortly before he left office, but President William Howard Taft dissolved it and won congressional approval for a statutory United States Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) in 1910. Several members of the McMillan Commission were appointed to the CFA, as were many McMillan Plan supporters. When the Lincoln Memorial Commission found itself riven by disagreement over the new memorial's site, it sought out the advice of the CFA. Together, the Lincoln Memorial Commission and CFA worked together to approval West Potomac Park as the site for the new monument. The site for the Lincoln Memorial was approved in June 1911.

Over the years, other decisions were made which helped reinforce the status of the McMillan plan as the "official" development plan for the District of Columbia. These included the siting of the Freer Gallery of Art in 1923, the creation of the National Capital Park and Planning Commission in 1926 (which was formally charged with implementing the McMillan Plan), enactment of legislation authorizing the enlargement of the Capitol grounds in 1929 (in accordance with the McMillan Plan), and passage of the Capper-Cramton city park act (which sought to implement the McMillan Plan's park program). 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. A lengthy fight over the location of the bridge occurred, but the CFA won the battle and the bridge's construction (in the low, classical style advocated by the McMillan Plan) was authorized by Congress on February 24, 1925. The Public Buildings Act of 1926 authorized the razing of the Murder Bay slum and the construction of Federal Triangle in 1926, and the Mount Vernon Memorial Parkway was authorized in 1928. Although construction of a massive terrace around the base of the Washington Monument proven unfeasable (it would have destabilized the monument's foundations), the National World War II Memorial was constructed at the eastern end of the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool in 2004.