Omaha daily bee., 1899-08-20
NEW HOME FOR LOST WOMEN
Handsome Structure Will Soon Be Erected in
West 0msha Addition,
GENERAL PLAN OF PROPOSED BUILDING
Ample Arrangements 10 Meet All Ne
ccssitics of the Institution ana
Also give n Home to Neg
lected children.

One OF the %prettlest buildings that has
been erected in Omaha in recent years Is
promised in the new Home OF the Good
Shepherd, for which ground has been brok-
eu in block s. in West Omaha addition.
The building will represent a novel and APP
propriate type of architecture and, with the
adjacent grounds. 1t will occupy the entire
block between Thirty-ninth and Fortteth,
aud jackson and Jones streets. 1t is pro-
posed to complete the building during the
present season at a total cost Of about
$3.50, 600.
The cite that has been secured for the
new home OF the institution is exceptionally
adapted for the purpose and the finished
structure will be an attractive addition to
the architectural features OF that part Of the
city. The plans contemplate a three-story
and basement building. II will be con-
structed on the pavilion plan and in the
form OF a cross, while the pavilions on each
OF the four extremities will relieve the mo-
notonous effect that would otherwise be
presented in a structure of such size and
arrangement. The entire building will b.
27O feet long by 220 feet wide and the plans
admit a simple but effective style of deco
ration that Will be in harmony with the pur-
poses to which 1t is to be devoted.
The main front will face Fortieth street
and this part OF the building will be known
as the Administration building or convent
and constitute the main department of the
home. One OF the other pavilions will be
occupied by the girls who are trying to re-
form and another will be devoted to the
children OF abandoned or neglected. parents
who are here given a home and training
that may redeem them frcm criminal pro-
~clivities and make them useful citizens.
Fills u Vacnnt Field.
The children's department receives a
class Of children for which the state has
made no provision. There is a public pro-
vision for orphan boys and girls, and also
for those whose criminal procllvities make
them impossible to control, but there is no
state institution at which children who are
neglected or improperly trained at home
may be cared for and surrounded with in
~tluences that will benefit them. The new
building will provide accommodations for
about 100 children and the girls pavilion
will have a capacity Of fully $50 repentant
women.
Another pavilion will be used for the
"Magdalenes" or women who have reformed
and who wish to remain at the institution
to be trained in industrial and household
pursuits. 1t has been found advisable to
separate this class of women from those
whose reformation Is not complete and in
either case no one outside Of the sisters
who have immediate charge of the ~institu-
tion has any knowledge of the identity Of
the women who seek this asylum of rest
and repentance.
An immense dining hall will occupy the
center of the building at the middle OF the
cross and there will also be a large laundry
fully equipped with modern apparatus. A
considerable portion OF the revenue of the
present institution is derived from the
laundry, and in the new building there will
be ample facilities for the development Of
an industry that permits the girls who are
willing to work an opportunity to assist in
the support OF the institution to which they
are indebted for their refuge. The home
now has about eighty inmates, but when
the new building is completed there will be
ample room to receive all who apply.