Plan of Marine Memorial Area

It is felt that the Temple facade provides a backdrop for the
Tomb, is the only structure visible as a symbol of the Tomb
from the distant view, and therefore should be retained.
This will be particularly important when the new Memorial
Chapel is developed on the Tomb axis. However, several
alterations to the building are suggested: First, it is pro-
posed that the podium and the steps of the Temple be
widened to provide a larger viewing area from an elevated
height, and to provide direct circulation to the podium for
visitors from the Amphitheater side without forcing traffic
through the narrow passageways leading through the
building. Second, space under the extension of the podium
can be used for new guard facilities and storage for press
equipment and seating, freeing the catacombs under the
colonnade for their originally intended use. Third, the
separation between public area and ceremonial area
should be emphasized by a heavier stanchion and chain
barrier.

The existing plywood and metal-tubing press stands are
unsightly, dangerous, unnecessarily prominent and need-
lessly permanent in view of their infrequent use, and
should be removed. A mobile TV and movie platform,
which can be rolled to an inconspicuous position among
the trees on days of its use and returned immediately there-
after to a storage room provided under the extended
Temple podium, should be substituted.

In another area of conflicting uses, it is proposed that cer-
tain modifications in the roads that adjoin the Cemetery
be made. The construction of the parking structure at
Memorial Gate will necessitate the removal of the access
loop from Memorial Drive to Jefferson Davis Highway, a
connection that will become redundant with the razing of
the temporary buildings south of the Cemetery and with
improved connections to that highway from Arlington
Boulevard and the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge. Access to
Fort Myer and to the Marine Memorial area will be pro-
vided in the future by the extension of North Meade Street
from Arlington Boulevard to Marshall Drive, allowing the
hazardous intersection of Marshall Drive and Jefferson
Davis Highway to be closed. Parking for summer evening
concerts at the Marine Memorial, for which no presently
adequate facilities exist, will also be provided by the park-
ing structure under Memorial Drive.

BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE

Preliminary design of permanent structures required to
carry out the objectives of the Comprehensive Plan was
completed following approval of the plan itself by the Na-
tional Capital Planning Commission and the Commission
of Fine Arts, November 1966. Four major buildings are re-
quired by the Plan: Visitors' Center and Parking Structure,
Memorial Chapel and Columbarium, Administration Build-
ing and the Service Building Complex. The final design
and construction of these permanent facilities will be
phased to accompany the redevelopment of land in the
South Post area as it becomes available for Cemetery use.
The functions of the permanent Visitors' Center and Park-
ing Structure have been discussed briefly in the preceding
section of the report. The importance that has been placed
upon this redevelopment of the approaches to the Ceme-
tery may be judged by the following excerpt from the No-
vember 21, 1966 report of the National Capital Planning
Commission.

The Commission commends the Department of the Army for
developing a Master Plan for Arlington National Cemetery which
resolves the difficult problem of accommodating tourists visiting
the Cemetery in a manner which minimizes conflict with the
formal use of the Cemetery for burial purposes, and which re-
turns to the historic emphasis on the Memorial Gate and Me-
morial Avenue with its formal relationship to the Mall, as the
entrance to Arlington National Cemetery.

The Commission believes that the construction of the proposed
parking structure and the removal of surface vehicular parking
from the Cemetery will greatly enhance the appearance of this
historic area, and therefore urges that the Department of the
Army and the Department of Defense give high priority to the
construction of the parking structure.

The location of the permanent Visitors' Center below the
plaza of the existing Memorial Gateway to Arlington Cem-
etery, and the construction of the associated parking facili-
ties below the adjoining road will subordinate these struc-
tures to the formal design of the ceremonial approaches
to the Cemetery.Landscape development at the ground level
will continue to follow the intent of the original McKim,
Mead and White design.

The separation of tourist and other traffic will occur at the
entrance to the Memorial Gate. Funeral processions and
automobiles bound for specific gravesites will be allowed
to proceed into the Cemetery proper. All other vehicles
will turn down ramps to parking levels below Memorial

Drive. Two levels are assigned to automobile parking with an intermediate high ceilinged area for buses. The design of the structure will allow pedestrians the option of proceeding under shelter to the Visitors' Center without crossing paths of vehicular traffic, or of ascending to the level of Memorial Drive. Some natural light is brought into the parking area through openings above the ramps and through stairways flanking Memorial Drive, but persons leaving their cars or buses will also be drawn toward the Visitors' Center by light flooding the area from a grand open stairway leading to the plaza within the Memorial Gate. Flanking this stair are facilities for tourist comfort and orientation; maps, displays and films that will inform and prepare visitors to experience the Cemetery in a proper attitude of respect and restraint. The Parking Structure will store 1050 cars and 77 buses, and with ramps and drives will total approximately 740,000 square feet in area. The Visitors' Center will house toilet facilities, information, exhibit and other visual interpretation areas, a total of about 42,000 square feet. The construction will be of reinforced architectural concrete with suitable interior finishes. Pending completion of the permanent facility, construction of a temporary visitors' center and surface parking area is to be undertaken. The building and its parking will be located to the south of Memorial Drive and east of the newlyaligned Arlington Ridge Road. Thus, in an interim period it will be able to fill the functions now envisaged for the permanent structure. Sited on the route now used for tourist traffic it will divert those buses and cars from the internal Cemetery roads. As a place of orientation it will be manned by guides from both the Park Service and the Cemetery. The plan of the parking area takes into consideration both future landscaping requirements and the location of the Administration Building, next phased in the Cemetery construction program. The Administration Building will thus share its function of separation of circulation patterns, with particular emphasis on easing the distress of the bereaved as they undertake ceremonies of burial. The Temporary Center and Parking Area, nonetheless, are not a part of the Cemetery as ultimately conceived. Besides occupying ground required for future interments, the form and the uses of the parking area tend to intrude upon the topography and landscape of Arlington. Limitations of