Growth on the Hill

As the nation grows, so grows the Capitol building. But for every hand raised to make it truly workable, a thousand protests rise from preservationists who feel that the monument should be as immutable and functionless as the Statue of Liberty.

Approval of plans to extend the west front of the Capitol was greeted predictably last week. Senator Joseph Clark of Pennsylvania threatened a bill making it a crime to deface the Capitol. Representative Sam Stratton of New York promised to organize a committee of 1,000,000. Senator Mike Monroney of Oklahoma called the plans "inconceivable." William Walton, chairman of Washington's Fine Arts Commission, said: "We have come to the conclusion that to erase this great historic facade would be a national tragedy."

Problem is, the ancient sandstone walls have crumbled like cake, and the limited space inside is pinching tightly. The $34 million reconstruction will move parts of the main facade as much as 88 ft. westward, adding 41 acres of badly needed floor space distributed over seven levels from sub-subbasement to attic. Into the new area will fit conference and committee rooms, 109 offices for Congressmen, a pair of auditoriums seating 400 each, cafeterias and dining rooms seating 1,600 people. Many of the new facilities, including those for eating, are designed to handle tourists who now visit the Capitol at a rate of 30,000 a day. Every detail of the present painted sandstone exterior will be copied as exactly as possible in durable white marble. However, an added triangular pediment, similar to the one already in place over the east front, and several columns worth of widening are proposed.

What spurs on preservationists is that the project is controlled by an Architect of the Capitol who is not an architect. They recall that J. George Stewart, 76, an engineer and onetime Congressman, was responsible for the multimillion-dollar fiasco of the Rayburn House Office Building across the street south of the Capitol. Stewart's critics were also furious when he used marble in the east front extension.

Oddly enough, Stewart's earliest predecessor, Dr. William Thornton, was also a purely amateur architect. When he designed the original Capitol in 1792, he begged President Washington to use marble. Washington vetoed his request as too expensive and supplied sandstone from his own quarry.

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