The age-herald., 1900-10-16
HELMICH'S PLANS FOR NEW CITY HALL Accepted by the Committee of
 City Council ESTIMATED COST S165,0OO Full Details of Proposed Magnificent Structure Which Helmich Will
 Superintend-Seoond Price
 Miller & Martin
ESTIMATED COST S165,0O(

The city hall committee of the Board of
 Aldermen yesterday finished the work of ex-
 amining the plans and specifications for
 the new city hall submitted by various ar
 chitects, and after careful consideration
 awarded the first prize to D. A. Hemich of
 Birmingham who will superintend the con-
 struction of the building. which Is in the
 nature of first prize. The second prize, con-
 sisting of $500, Was awarded to Miller x
 Martin. The third prize, consisting of $2o0,
 went to Torgenson X Go.
 There were five competitors and their plans were examined in the following order.
 Ryan & Sons, D. A. Hemich, Torgenson & Co.,, Wheelock X Sons and Miller & Martin. The plans of D. A. Hemich were best suited to the ideas of the various members
 of the committee and after carefully ex- | amining all the drawings he was awarded
 the contract of experimenting the work on the building. According to his specifications | the building will cost about $165 0G0. MT. Hell mich's drawing of the building. when com l pleted, will be fine specimen of the l draughtsmana art, and when his plans l have been put into execution Birmingham will be graced with as metropolitan a mu-
 nicipal building as any city in the South l The building is to be four stories high and | the roof will be decorated with a 70-foot | tower In the drawing d clock is placed in the tower with the hands pointing to six teen minutes to l. The architect disclaims
 any intention to boom the Democratic po-
 sition on the money question.
 The main entrance to the city hall will
 be in Nineteenth street This entrance leads
 into large corridor, at the foot of which is an elevator. Another entrance will be opened into Fourth avenue, which will also terminate at the elevator. On the Nineteenth street side of the build ing and on each side of the main entrance will be located six storerooms for rent to
 merchants. On the Fourth avenue side will
 be located the market house and the fire
 department. The police department will re-
 main where it is. The jail will undergo
 considerable repairs and the shed for the
 patrol wagons will be enlarged The chief of polices office will be located on the sec
 ond floor of the new building and be | reached from the elevator.
 All of the offices of the city officials will l be located on the second floor of the build l ing On the third floor will be the Coun- cil chamber and hall for the Police Com
 mission. There will also be several offices for rent on this floor, besides committee rooms for members of the Board of Alder
 men and Police Commission.
 The fourth floor will be arranged for an
 armory and reading room
 The building as shown by the drawings will have a frontage in Nineteenth street of 140 feet, by a depth in Fourth avenue of 1SS feet, and covers an area approXi- mately of 10000 square feet of ground, ex elusive of the jail building. The height of the building from the sidewalk to the eve of the roof will be 72 feet and from the sidewalk to the top of the tower 190 feet The style of architecture will be Roman Doric, interspersed with Corinthi and | Ionic treatment, may seem best adapted | to the general makeup of the building. The l fronts of the building will be faced with l gray hydraulic pressed brick and trimmed I with gray sandstone. The entrance will be l decorated with polished red Tennessee marble, and the steps will be of gray gran | ite. All ornamental work on the fronts below the main cornce will be of gray terra cotta. The floors of the market and fire department will be of concrete, while all corridors will be. tiled with Tennessee marble or glazed encaustic tile.