The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1892-08-28
THE CITY FIRETRAP.
An Architectural Fraud Imposed
on the City and County.
The Plans OF the Joint Building Call for Tw,
Stories Fireproor and Two stories Of
Kindling Wood.

had the city and county officials needed
the warning The HERALD sounded ct the
time the plans for the joint building were
adopted, they would not now be called upon
10 confess that they were duped into sad
ding upou the city and county building
that can not come up to the expectations OF
the taxpayers.
The Apponyi plans were thrown aside on
account Of defective construction and this
shift cost tho taxpayers $4,000 This
bungling was warning enough to have eau
TONED prudent men.
To secure the best plans possible and to
maze IL. com petition broad, advertise
lneuts wei PLACED in the newspapers ask
Ing Tor the different architects TO compete
This Did b ought out seventeen different
designs. Alter tue plans had been sub
United the Joint committees closeted them
selves in 81 ug little room and refused the
newspaper re porters admission.
Instead OIL inviting criucism the com :
mittee drew iowa the blinds that they
might shut out critical investigation The
HERALD protcs cd at the time and de-
manded that the designs should be placed
where other architects and contractors
could inspect them and point out thelg de-
fects. TIE HERALD again TOOK exception
to the hasty manner in which the present
plans were accepted before the specitica-
tions had been completed But the CON-
mittee had pet architect and although
there were plans in conformity with the
instructions calling for bids, these were
cast aside 10 make way for design that
every practical builder must have known
could not be constructed within the limit
OF S35o.0UO.
l5uL the committee was bent on saddling
this job on the city, and it went ahead,
giving the architect enough leeway in the
lax loophole contract which " made easy
10 crawl out OF here in demands for extras
nj the rate OF $50 OUO per hole. The i'm
position was revealed IN the bids, some
contractors refusing to touch it unless they
secured a price which would warrant them
IN constructing an honest building.
There is always y way by which con-
tractor can stand pc. with the architect by
having the plans so worded that the work
can be cheapened and still conform to the
specifications.
The first part of the cheepening pro-
cess was the fouEdauoR and the
city and county paid the nice little sum of
SO, coo and over 10 secure proper f0unda-
ZION. 4 his extra allowance was followed
nv the information that the specifications
lied for sandstone as the material for the
c .Ustereo columns at the entrances. 1t was
claimed that the stone was too soft and
have been specified.
But the big gap in the specifications to
facilitate the cheapening process and to
enable the contractor TO put bid within
the price which the architects agreed that
il sh0uld cost WIS held back. 1t now comes
out that the purported hreproof building is
only tireproof for two stories and that half
a million feet of lumber will go into the
two upper stories and roof supports unless
the authorities direct a change to iron.
This will cost from $40, 900 TO $50, 900 more
After this has been met the city will
have exceeded the original estimate hun
dred thousand dollars, and when it comes
to heating apparatus, elevators and other
necessary parts of the structure. il may be
discovered that the architect has conven-
iently obliged the contractor by emitting
these, too. or where iron should be used in
serted wood.
Instead of taking time and precaution to
secure contract that would cover every
thing, the joint committee seemed to care
nothing except that the building should be
rushed.
If the design was for q solid, massive
grand. sublime building, there would be
little objection TO expending million dol
lars If necessary, but the present building
will be behind the times by the time it is
finished. -..ss - 49,.
1t is pretentious fraud and never can
be anything else and was rushed through
10 boom real estate in the neighborhood of
the Eighth ward square more than to sup
ply the city and county with sensible
business building with the beauty of solid
grandeur instead of this ornate, ginger
bread paste-diamond pretension.
Anent this little discovery is piece of
inside history. The architects wanted the
contractor to 90 ahead and order the iron
and they would see that he got paid for it.
The query naturally follows and an in
vestigation may he in order to ind out what
members of tn city council and county court
are authorizing the expenditure of public
funds on their individual warrant This,
in connection with the election recently
held TO bond Salt Lake county, may be
circumstantial evidence Of the uses to
which the 100000 would have been put
had the measure carried.
The city and county 'job'' building is
getting TO be interesting, and it may be
necessary TO open up the corner stone and
supplement Judge Bartch's eloquent ad
dress with a codicil.