The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-07-26
WORK OF ART.
New Free Public Library
Building Will Be an Or
nament to the City.
VERSAILLES IN MINIATURE
Plans Show an Exceedingly
Handsome and Classic
Facade on Jersey
Avenue.
DESCRIPTION OF TIE STRUCTURE
Architects Are Now Working
Out the Details for the
Specifications.

The accepted plan for the new Free Pub
lie Library Building. to be built on the
site purchased by the Trustees. on Jer-
sey avenue. between Montgomery and
Mercer streets, IS now being worked out in
detail by the architects Brite and Bacon,
of New York City. for the inspection of
the Trustees and when they have criti-
cized it made suggestions and otherwise
subjected it to a searching examination,
the Specifications will be drawn up and
then will flow in the bids from the con-
tractors.
The successful plans as it appears on
the wall of the architects office in the
Constable Building, Fifth avenue, New
York City, shows an extremely handsome
classic structure of the Renaissance
period, strongly recalling a Versailles in
miniature.
In length it will be 100 feet 6 inches, on
the Jersey avenue side, and from the
curb to the cornice it will be So feet On
tho park and Mercer street sides there
will be a frontage of 46 feet 6 inches, and
a feature of the building is that it will
stand free from the adjoining buildings.
The first story of the new building will
be of stone. with a superstrlcture of
granite limestone and brick. Precisely
what color of brick will be used is not
vet determined. It may be as the arehi-
tects say, white, red or yellow. In shape
the building will be q parallelogram with
the facade on Jersey avenue. There will
be nine large windows extending from the
the second to the third floors, and the
smaller ones on the ground floor will be
subdivided by granite mullons. A feature
of interest in the facade is the main ems
trance. The entrance provided consists of
an ornamental doorway hanked by large
bronze allegorical figures of art and liter
ature These will be surmounited by a
granite balcony AT each end of this
main doorway are granite Ionic pilasters
supporting curved pediment the
tympanum of which will be occupied by
a large escutcheon displaying the arms
of Jersey City, which will have as sup
porters two carved figures. The nine
windows on the facade front will be ten
feet wide. and extending within a few feet
of the corniee. One window will be over
the doorway between the pilasters, and
there will be four on each side of il. The
divisions between the windows will be of
metal.
Above all this will be an exceedingly
handsome stone Roman Doric Cornice
spand and in the spaces will be carved
the names: Milton, Johnson, Addison,
Pope. Gray Sheridan, Moore, Shakespeare.
Then come steep slate roof surmoLnt-
ed with a metal cresting. The roof is
pierced with eight small circular windows
lighting one end of the lecture hall and
other rooms devoted to the officers. of the
building. There will be skylights on the
roof lighting the other end of the lecture
room and reading rooms.
The end elevations, or in everyday
language. the sides on Mercer and Mont
gomery streets, will be similar. and re-
call by a treatment of pilasters, the very
artistic style of the main entrance on
Jersey avenue. The entrances on these
sids will be very handsome, aanked by
wrought lamps and probably carved fig
ures.
On entering the main doorway the
visitor viii find himself in a spacious ves-
tibule, paved with "terrazzo." a species
of Mosaic work, formed of small pieces
of broken marble. All the corridors
throughout the building will have this
pavement. The height of the main floor
will be eighteen feet. and the interior
will be simple, artistic. dignified and
classic, and as ornamental in appearance
as is consistent with the sum in the
hands of the Trustees. The main stair
case will be metal, and the ceilings will
be of ornamental plaster.
To the right of the vestibule on the
ground floor will be found the file room
and newspaper room, with the entrance
on Van Worst Park To the left of the
entrance are lunch room. store ROOM.
bindcry and station delivery. with an en-
trance on Mercer street. AT the back of
the building, opposite to the vestibule, on
this floor, is one of the stack rooms This
stack room will extend through all the
floors, and it may even start in the base
ment and have up to seven stack stories
of ~ feet each, and provision must be
made for 100000 volumes in the stacks.
These stacks are to be G, 9. II or IS feet
long. IS or 16 inches deep and 81 to 36 inches
apart in the clear; interior aisles, 8 feet,
and wall aisles 21a feet wide. There will
be abundant light from windows, as near
" opposite each cross aisle or space be-
tween stacks. The stack room or wing
will be separated from the rest Of the II
brary by solid brick walls, provided with
fire proof doors
The second floor will comprise big
reading room, 4s feet by IS feet; ladies'
room. Librarians room. work.