The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-01-19
NONE OF THE PLANS WILL DO.
THs MUNICIPAL BUILDING COMMITS
SION IN a BLIND Alley
The Cha-ces Ave Tkat II WIN Have - AZ
vsriiss All Over AGaIu for Pisns-Menn-
Ia InAannIAslN 20 IhInh

The chances Are That n WIN Nave ~ Ad-
vsritse Ar over Aesiu for Pisr.-M-nn-
whus, It Adiourrs Indennitsiy 60 ThInk.
The New Municipal Building Commission
met in the Mayors onlce yesterday afternoon.
where they we're adjourned indefinitely sub
iect to the call OF the Mayor
Mayor Gilroy's FIRST question 10 Mr.. Napoleon
lie Brun. Chairman OF the Advisory Board OF
Architects. was whether. in their selection OF
the six best plans out Of 1874 plans for the new
building submitted by competitors. the archi-
tects had paid any attention to the matter OF
expense. Mr.. lie Brun replied that they had
not: that the selection had been based entirely
upon the architectural merits OF the designs.
The Mayors second question was whether
the architects had secured the consent Of the
makers Of the six best plans to exhibit them in
public. and II was this question that brought
the entire company up against a snag and
made It necessary for them to adjourn inden-
nltely to think.
Architect Edward Fl. Kendall said that IL
would be impossible to communicate with the
architects. inasmuch as the rules adopted by
the Commission forbade the opening of any OF
the envelopes until the prize was awarded.
and also forbade the public exhibition Of any
plan without the consent Of the designer.
Therefore" continued Mr.. Kendall. the
only way to do is to open all the envelopes md
secure the permission Of all the architects to
exhibit. and then we can show the six plans
that have been adiudged the best"
1T seems to me-" put in the Mayor. that in
our attempts to avoid collision we have actu-
ally shut the doors on common sense" and
then he read from the Instructions prepared
By :he Advisory Board:
No plan. or paper. submitted ar. to hay. upon POI,
there shall be sent with them sealed letter addressed
md sSGre. tbs letter. Viii NOT (. opened until the
awards shall have been made. 1ne drsuins' AMI
papers will be known BY numbers corresponding with
numbers given TO the letters
Furthermore" said the Mayor. II believe
that the cost OF the new building should be
UOu. 900 for building on the best OF these plans
Il the city can get good Plan for shOOO;OO9
cost is always more than the estimates
think g, We SoG san q FIN, find suiiable plan for
That's Just about what should he willing
to have the city nay. an, answered me Mnyori
tho WommissIon was going to get IL around the
rule which forbade the opening OF any VI the
enyselopes until an award Vas made: "rs,.
only gives me another occasion to express my
dissatisfaction with the work of the Advisory
Board, They made those rules. and We are
The Mayor then submitted to the Commits:
seen reeeiYed by him. ONE WAS T. Writ en-
statement from number of architects. who
said they considered II unadv sable to give
their names. They thought, however that
the Commissioners should base their final de-
cison on the exterior appearance OF the pro-
posed pew building as it was far moro din
cult to get such a one than plan Offering in
terlor ARRANGEMENT such ns the specifications
ne sa nIHns soecscd as the best Ie Soueht
and that tho best features OF all be combined.
second communication came from the
supreme Court Judges. who asked for accom-
modations In the new building on the ground
that when it has heon erected tho light will tie
completely shut out from the County Court
Both these letters were referred to the Com
mission for consideration.
think We are in a very dIsagrsseable situa..
tion. said Comptroller Fitch, and | move that
we adjourn for two weeks to think" ~
Gilroy. | want 10 Say that on account Of tho
high estimates Of cost we ought to reject all
the plans we hayo and readyertise for now de-
signs. making the rules Of the contest less
binding. As II Is now, we have bound ourselves
hand and foot, and ], am in favor OF starting
without violating some provision 81 the rules
laid down by the architects for our Guidance"
tie whoie thing, and he began to talk anont
very start by choosing the site they had. and
not pulling down the Tweed Court House
said the Mayor. and we have decided on it
long ago. az course. IL you want to talk about
tpd Ssk ao TSts lax Hn SS & All
Interrupted tho County Clerk and don't es;
TEEN IL any favor on your part to lie allowed
to. have right to talk in this Board. /
think tho site chosen Is a bad one"
am perfectly willing TO have the matter
discussed again" continued the Mayor. and
/ don't want to stick to my idea. ii II is wrong,
simply because IL ik my idea"
"Iknow you don't" answered Mr.. Purroy " or
l would not waste my breath talk ing to YOU"
But the Board did not want to discuss the
matter, and after Mr.. Iurroy had talk ed him
self out, it was decided TO adjourn. to meet at
the call Of the Mayor. each Commissioner in
the mean time to try to think OF some way out
OF the dilemma.