Memorial Capital

When General Charles de Gaulle was in Ottawa last week. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King asked a favor: could he borrow Jacques Greber, inspector-general of city planning for France, and a world authority on garden architecture and public parks? De Gaulle agreed, and the Prime Minister called in reporters. He told them that Architect Greber would come to Canada at "the earliest sailing" to begin creating a beautiful national capital -- a scheme that has long been one of the P.M.'s fondest dreams.

What Ottawa now has of gracious streets and spacious vistas is largely the work of Jacques Greber. Before the war he drew up a plan for beautifying the city, beginning with a landscaped plaza in the center of the business district and radiating out from there. Now he would really start radiating.

Some 900 square miles of rolling hills, woods, rivers, canals, the cities of Ottawa and Hull will be converted into a "National Capital District," most of it across the Ottawa River in Quebec province. The whole district will be a memorial to Canada's World War II dead.*

The Government's plans are adaptable, said the Prime Minister. "We hope we're only beginning something that will go on for years." For the expanding capital of a growing country, he added: "What is needed is large vision for development of Ottawa along lines similar to Washington."

* Reforestation, model housing projects, traffic arteries named after battles in which Canadians fought, will provide work for veterans.

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