The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-07-17
WHAT BUILDERS ARE DOING
CONTRACTORS REPORT BUSIN RSS
 .. RATHER DULL.

tl"n or Frospoctlvc WOrk or various Contractors.
 The effect of the present hard times upon the community Is to be seen in the small amount of building which is going on or contemplated.
 To be sure there are few large build :ngs in process of erection, as the Moses block on Chapel street, the Osterweis block on Church street and the large addition to the Garde hotel on Meadow street, but apart from these the build ing trade is very dull and contractors and architects are both complaining of the hard times and the lack of orders, present or prospective.
 There Is less building contemplated. for one thing, at Yale. the new Berze- Illus dormitory on Hillhouse avenue be- ing the only new building planned thus far.
 It has been seldom, in recent years, that several costly buildings were not in process of erection at this season of the year at Yale.
 There is considerably less building going on in the city than there was year ago at this time.
 One of the results of this stagna- tion in the trade is that many men of the building trades are unable to ob tain work.
 That this state of affairs is not pecu- liar to New Haven Is shown by the fact that local contractors here are receiv- ing applications constantly from other places, even so far distant as the state of Maine.
 Some of the larger contractors attrib- ute their lack of orders to the fact that a large number of small jobbers have entered the field of late and having It. the capital invested to lose and every thing to gain, are taking contracts at such low bids that competition is 1m- possible. It is prophesied on the part of some builders that the small Jobbets will come to grief in doing work at so low figure as to invite loss. and that there will be many failures among them in the near future.
 The firm of Sperry & Treat is com pleting the new Osterweis building on Church street which Is being erected at cost of from s40,000 to $45,O00.
 They also have the contract for the new addition to the Garde hotel. The addition is five stories in height and 35x35 feet.
 An addition to the kitchen to go with the other addition is also being made. The work will probably be completed by the middle of next month at a cost of something like s14,Oo0.
 The fixm is also just completing the enlargement of the windows in the pub lie library building. The windows are nearly doubled in size, greatly improv- ing the lighting of the building.
 The George M. Grant company on Union street has the contract for the mason work of the Moses building in process of erection on Chapel street-a building whose total cost will probably be $50, 900. The joiner work will be done by James Church. The building will probably be completed by October 1. The firm is also doing the mason work in the extensive repairs which are be- ing made to the Eaton school building. The appropriation for the repairs Is S25,000 The joiner work is being done by Todd, and the steam heating by New York parties
 Extensive alterations are also being
  Judge w. K Townsend on Grove street. Extensions on side and rear will near ly double the present size of the resi- dence.
 The Hubbell, Merwin & Go. of Arti- gan street are just completing an Ital- ian apartment house on Donnelly place.
 Charles D. Kinney of Orange street reports, with other firms, trade very dull The company has an office in Hartford and has just completed the Hunt memorial there, costly building erected by the Hartford Medical socie- ty at cost of $50 000 They placed bids also for the addition to the Wethers- field prison. the contract for which has just been awarded to Purves & Nal colin of Hartford. They have also fig ured on the new addition which Is to be made to the insane asylum at Mid dletown.
 The firm of Brown & Berger, archi- tects, have made plans for a dwelling house to be erected by ex Fire Conamis- soiner George Hugo on State street, be- tween Platchley avenue and Warren place. It is to be g two-family dwell ing house, to be occupied by MT. Hugo and his son. It is 30x4S, has five rooms on a floor and will be finished in ash throughout. It will have all modern Improvements and will be heated by hot water and cost about s4.000
 Another dwelling planned by them will be erected by A. J. McGinty tally man at Belle dock freight office, at the corner of Blatchley avenue and Cedar Hill street. It will be 35x40, five rooms on a floor. It will be finished in ash and North Carolina pine, and will have all modern Improvements.
 Architects Brown & Berger have also made plans for brick block to be built in Waterbury by A. Pope.
 Architect George c. A. Brown has made plans for three-story block con- taining six flats of six rooms each, to be built on Greene street by Isaac Brown It will be S9x6S, of brick, with trim mings of buff brick and East Haven stone, and will have tin roof and gal vanized iron cornice. There will be skyltghts, speaking tubes, electric bells etc.
 The contracts for the fine $10,o00 resi- dence to be built on St Roman street for profasSor Frank U C,,top Prar,,