Omaha daily bee., 1901-01-06
AUDITORIUM SITE SELECTED
Howard Street Ground Between Fourteenth
and Fifteenth Chosen.
LOCATION MEETS GENERAL APPROVAL
Land Upon witch the s.rcat Structure
il to lie Built IN valued at $780,
OOO--Activc work to He
gin Soon.

The auditorium will be located on the
south side of Howard street, between Four
teenth and Fifteenth, and it will occupy the
entire half block.
The selection OF this site was announced
by the auditorium directors yesterday after
contracts had been closed for the purchase
OF the property.
That the directors have entered into an
agreement to buy this land is fact that
removes all doubt as to the complete sue
cess of the auditorium project The stock
subscriptions now amount to $4,000, anu
as soon as they are increased to S15O,OOO
ground will be broken and work on the mag
nifcent structure will be begun and rap
idly carried to completion. The directors
are sure that they will be able to place the
additional $4,000 OF stock within the next
three months and they are equally certain
that the construction of the building VIII be
under way almost as soon as the frost is
out OF the ground.
The price to be paid for the land selected,
which is technically described as the north
half OF block 16S Of Omaha proper, is $55-
900 cash. This is regarded as a reasonable
price as ground In that vicinity sells rap
idly in the open market at from 5000 TO
1925 a front foot The half block is 1872 feet
deep with a frontage on Howard street oil
264 feet, making the price paid by the audi
torium committee amount to about s2Os
front foot.
Owners of the Land.
The land is now divided into six parcels
with several owners. The lot on the cor
ner OF Fifteenth street, sixty-six feet 'front.'
age, will be bought from the =. j. Mullen
estate; the lot on the corner OF Fourteenth
street. of the same dimensions, will be pun
chased from the heirs of Charles Holloway
and the intervening four half lots each with
| thirty-three feet frontage, from George "A
Hogan Charles Turner, Mrs. Sarah r.
| Knight and the heirs of Reuben Ross. All
| of the owners have signed contracts to sell
| their holdings to the auditorium company
the negotiations for the transfer having
been successfully conducted by c. u. Den
| ney the real estate agent. The titles nave
all been examined and found to be perec''
The auditorium directors will at once
make call for a sufficient percentage o.
the stock subscriptions to provide the fuil
amount necessary to pay for the property
| As soon as the transfers are completed the
old frame dwellings which occupy the lots
| will be demolished.
| Within n week or so the directors Will
advertise for architects plans and propo-
| sails It Is their intent to offer cash prizes
| for the best plans submitted, in order to
invite a lively competition among the archi-
| tects.
The selection of the Howard street site
| Is approved by the auditorium stockholders
| generally The other sites that were under
consideration were rejected for very good
reasons, it is asserted. The Murray prop
city at the corner of Harney and Eighteenth
streets was dropped because its title is in
litigation, the Poppleton tract at Fifteenth
street and Capitol avenue did not compare
favorable with the Howard street property
in dimensions or price, the vacant block at
Eighteenth and Douglas, just north OF the
lTe ep O le tui ding, was too high in price an
not convenient enough to the various car
line and the lots at Fourteenth and Dodge
| and Fourteenth and Capitol avenue were
considered too narrow.
street Car Facilities.
Every street car line in the city either
| runs by the Howard street site or within
block or two of 1t and the tracks are sc
arranged that the cars on any route may
be brought right to the doors OF the pro-
posed auditorium. 1t was on account OF the
superior street railway facilities of this To-
cation that Governor Boyd wanted to build
his new theater there in 1898. He offered
100000 for the siXty-slX-1oot iot at the
corner of Howard and Fifteenth, but was
unable to induce the owner to sell.
When asked what he thought of the Sc
lection of the Howard street site President
Sanborn of the Auditorium company said
, "Some others are Just as good, but there
is none better. Price considered, 1t is thu
2 best property in the city for our purpose
| AS street car proposition the Howard
street location is away ahead of anything
e else. as every car in the city can b.
0 switched around in front of 1t without trou
y BILE or loss of time. think the promise o
Z | tndny Is that we are going to have al