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Grand Valley Chapter, American Association of Architects, October 2, 1963
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4525798
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Grand Valley Chapter, American Association of Architects, October 2, 1963
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Gerald R. Ford Congressional Papers
Speeches
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Urban renewal
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1963
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The original documents are located in Box D16, folder "Grand Valley Chapter, American
Association of Architects, October 2, 1963" of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press
Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
10-2-63
$2 - airports Wrlan Renewal
URBAN
through Valley
RENEWAL #5 -Hospital
-Water Pollution
$50 - Happensings
One of the strenghts of the Urban Renewal program is that t it is a
in
LOCAL program in-a locally conceived, planned and executed. It is a concerted
effort by a COMMUNITY to improve a local situation. In truth, the federal
government assists, but the Urban Renewal projects are planned and carried
out by a local public agency.
2.
(for statistics on projects and costs, see attached chart)
3.
The program is gàining momentum and during the past two years the Urban
Renewal Administration has approved 432 projects equal to half of the number
approved for the entire period from 1949 to 1960. By mid-year 1962 more
than 600 cities had an urban renewal program, and the last two years accounted
for about 250 of them.
4.
The Commissioner of the Urban Renewal Administration predicts that by
June 1964 the program will include 1560 projects in 750 cities. The total
area covered by these projects will be ahout 185 square miles.
5.
Since the beginning of the program in 1949, about 127,000 families
have been displaced by urban renewal. The record shows that 80 percent of
these families have moved into locally-certified standard homes. About
7 percent moved away from the city, 7 percent disappeared, and 7 percent
moved into substandard housing, after having been offered standard
accommodations.
6.
(mention Grand Rapids urban renewal project - - refer to attached
brochure and fact sheet.)
7.
Getting away now from the statistics, I have been impressed by the
emphasis which William L. Slayton, Commissioner of the Urban Renewal
Administration, has placed on the responsibility of the architect in the
success of the urban renewal program. In discussing the REAL problems of
FORD & LIBRARY GERALD
Digitized from Box D16 of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
URBAN RENEWAL
CALENDAR YEAR
NO. OF PROJECTS FOR
RESERVATIONS; PROMISES
ACTUALLY DISPERSED
WHICH RESERVATION
TO PAY OUT
IN GRANTS
MADE
(in millions)
(in thousands)
1950
124
199M
0
1951
77
84
0
1952
58
46
0
1953
1*
19
8,673
1954
18
29
12,597
1955
62
176
37,580
1956
92
273
16,291
1957
666
193
30,618
1958
151
305
50,080
1959
44
64
78,894
1960
149
477
135,558
1961
176
601
149,866
Dec.31 1962
198
547
191,959
TOTALS:
1210
$3,014,000,000
$712,106,000
$836 million (to Aug.
31st, 1963.)
*33 Projects considered but dropped.
FORD is LIBRARY GERALD
GRAND RAPIDS URBAN RENEWAL
Total expenditures by Federal Gov't.
$2.8 million
Cost of City
#350 thousand
Gross Project Cost (Clearance, site improvement)
$3,156,000
Sale of land - to recover
1,500,000
(To private interest $877,000)
(For city use
616,000)
Loss (diffesence between purchase & sale)
$1.6 million
shared 2/3 by federal govt.; 1/3 by city
*
*
*
*
To date Grand Rapids has collected from Federal Government: $320,000
FORD & LIBRARY GERALD
-2-
urban renewal Mr. Slayton has said, "For the real problems of urban renewal
are not functions of time or process but the difficulty of refashioning
our cities in a rational, aesthetic, and comprehensive pattern.
8.
Mr. Slayton went on to say, "A further objective is the creation of
new urban areas designed to please the eye as well as meet the needs of its
users in a functional and pleasant way. The rebuilding of cities is an
opportunity one has but seldom. We should not lose it, but rather should
Valna
remember that we shall be judged years hence by how well we built today
and the extent to which we were able to plan and build for the needs of the
future. In this rebuilding, one basic objective is esthetics. We should
not shy at the term nor feel strange in its presence."
9.
Mr. Slayton also pointed out the obstacles in the achievement of these
objectives is not only expediency and the failure to measure long-term
benefits against short-term setbacks, but also "the unwillingness to
accept design and beauty and esthetics as a major criteria in determining
the developmental program."
If this is true, and I have no reason to believe it is not, the
opportunities as well as the responsibility of architects in the urban
renewal program is indeed profound as well as far reaching.
10.
Mr. Slayton's solution to the problem is, as he puts it, in the
"education of the decision-makers. The procedures used by most municipalities
in the selection of architects and designs for public structures are not
conducive to giving weight to esthetic considerations. Municipalities could
take a leaf from the State Department's overseas building program; namely,
the use of a panel of top architects to select and work with other architects
for the design of public structures."
GERALD FORD LIBRARY
- 3 -
11.
Mr. Slayton summarizes by saying that the "real bottlenecks to a
comprehensive urban renewal program are lack of a comprehensive development
plan, too little concern with design in the building operation, and
slowness to recognize the importance of the human and social objectives."
Generally we think of urban renewal as clearing out an area more or
less completely and starting anew. However, the Agency is also concerned
with historic preservation. But as the agency points out, in any historic
preservation there are two areas of emphasis: 1), its rehabilitation and
conservation whenever that is feasible, and the other emphasis is
on
good design.
Again, the thing that impresses me is the emphasis that the Urban
Renewal administrator places on the design aspects of urban renewal.
I am sure that you in this audience tonight have sound and constructive
answers to the problem to which Mr. Slayton refers. I am speaking as one
who is no architect but as one who must agree with the administrator's
analysis, the sucess or failure of urban renewal projects lies to a major
degree with the architects and engineers who plan and develop the new building
in the renewed area.
12.
The role of the architect has always been highly significant in any
building program. But whenwe have an opportunity to tear down the old
and start from scratch, and when the responsibility of expenditure of
millions of tax dollars is involved, the extent of the architects
responsibility end influence is greatly magnified.