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Department of Justice Will 
Take Steps to Conserve 
Tract Following Protests 
by Citizens Associations 
Condemnation of enough land 
in the Piney Branch tract in up¬ 
town Washington to save the 
transcity parkway through the 
valley from threatened destruc¬ 
tion is expected to begin today. 
Suits are scheduled to be filed 
in the District, branch of the Dis¬ 
trict Supreme Court by the De¬ 
partment of Justice. Assistant 
Solicitor George P. Barse is in 
charge of the condemnation pro¬ 
ceedings. 
FILLED IN BY BUILDERS. 
The area involved lies between 
Fourteenth and Sixteenth streets 
at Shepherd street and Arkansas 
avenue. Builders in this section per¬ 
sisted in filling the valley iri t.dis¬ 
section over the combined protests 
of the Piney Branch, Columbia 
Heights and Mt, Pleasant Citizens 
associations, 
Two weeks ago The Washington 
\ Herald made public the protests of 
citizens against spoliation of the 
valley. Dumping operations ceased 
immediately thereafter and have 
not since been resumed. 
BOULEVARD PLANNED. 
The National Capital Park Cora- 
mission has designated Piney 
» Branch valley _ as an integral part 
5 of the city’s park system. It is 
\ the plan to run a park boulevard 
up the valley which will ultimately 
connect with the Soldiers Home 
grounds. 
With such a boulevard, 65,000 
citizens will be able to reach down¬ 
town Washington through the 
Piney Branch and Rock Creek 
parkways without crossing a single 
intersecting street, it is pointed out. 
Price Asked Prohibitive, Con¬ 
demnation Suit Is Begun by 
Order of Col. Sherrill. 
Immediate steps will be taken to 
condemn land considered necessary 
for the park system of the National 
Capital. Lieut. Col. Clarence O. Sher¬ 
rill, director of the office of public 
buildings and public parks of the Na¬ 
tional Capital and executive officer of 
the National Capital Park Commis- 
ision, today sent a letter to the At¬ 
torney General of the United States 
asking him to immediately institute ' 
proceedings to condemn three tracts 
of land in this city. These include 
What is known as the Piney Branch 
Parkway, extending in a northeaster¬ 
ly direction from the Tiger Bridge on 
Sixteenth street to Fourteenth and 
Varnum streets, following the line of 
Piney Branch, which is now inclosed 
in 1 a pipe; the large tract of land 
east of Connecticut avenue and north 
of Klingle valley road in the Cleve¬ 
land Park section and the triangle 
at Thirty-seventh street and Wiscon¬ 
sin avenue. 
Will Halt Dumping. 
The purpose of this move, accord¬ 
ing to Col. Sherrill, is to prevent any 
further destruction of these lands for 
park uses. Institution of the pro¬ 
ceedings will have the immediate ef¬ 
fect of stopping further dumping on 
the grounds. Considerable dumping 
tof earth has been going on for some 
time In the Piney Branch Parkway, 
and if it were allowed to continue 
the site would be destroyed. 
It is the purpose of the Park Com¬ 
mission to purchase this plot to pro¬ 
vide a driveway by way of Rock 
Creek Park to the downtown section 
Without the necessity of getting into ' 
the heavy traffic in the highways of - 1 
fhe city proper. 
Negotiations have been conducted ' 
for some time by the Park Commis- I f 
fcion in an effort - to purchase these 1 
lands at a reasonable figure, but it J 
lias been found impossible to get 
them on this basis. Therefore, it was 
decided to take the land for Govern- ! 
fnent use by condemnation. 
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