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.ÿþ230 architects to the nationA Proposed Department of Public WorksThe other proposed reorganization of the federal government s ar-chitecture program was the consolidation of all the federal designand construction activities, including those of the Army Corps ofEngineers, into a Department of Public Works.This new agencywould include the responsibilities of the Supervising Architect sOffice as well as bridges, parks, and roadways.106 This idea was dis-cussed as early as 1909, but it did not result in congressional activityuntil after World War I.In 1919, the Jones Reavis Bill was introducedto create a federal Department of Public Works.The idea was sup-ported by a number of technical, construction, and business organi-zations joined together to form the National Department of PublicWorks Association.The aia passed a resolution to support this effort.There was some speculation that this department, if created, wouldbe placed under a reorganized Department of the Interior.With the proposed reorganization of the federal government s ar-chitecture program, hopes were raised among aia members onceagain that a means could be found for the employment of the ser-vices of private architects.As Milton B.Medary Jr., chairman of theaia s Committee on Public Works, stated:We believe when such an agency of the Government is created, itwill be possible through its investigations to develop and use localtalent in architecture and engineering, and that we can stimulatea greater interest in Public Works by calling on the various regionsin the country to use their own available forces to execute the pub-lic works within their District.107A major obstacle to the formation of the Department of PublicWorks was the Corps of Engineers.This agency of long historicalstanding was contemplated for inclusion in the proposed depart-ment.Lieutenant-Colonel C.O.Sherrill remarked to the 1924 annualconvention of the aia:One of the fundamental errors made by the proponents of thismatter was that they undertook to destroy a really valuable orga-nization of the Government in order to create something elselarger and more widespread.That organization [the ArmyCorps of Engineers] has had an honored career of one hundredand thirty years of construction work with but one isolated case [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ] |
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