The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-08-17
REBUILDING AT JACKSONVILLE.
Remarkable RecupcrntiVc Power
shown by the Florida city.

Thth II DL the = l0Ea08 tANa
: JACKSONVILLE. Fla. Aug. I7.-Three
months have elapsed since the hre Of May
3 laid in ashes $50 acres or buildings IN the
heart Of Jacksonville including about
oue-haf Of the business houses. nearly all
OF the bubble buildings. and most OF the
churches The rebuilding Of the city is
now We'll under way. Ii is estimated that
about l4o0 houses were burned The city
building commissioner has already issued
upwards of f00 permits which include
more than 500 houses, one permit some
. times covering q number Of houses
The chief activity is naturally shown in
. the rebuilding Of business structures. on
; Bay Street, between Laura and Market
where was formerly the main retail sec
tion the walls Of one fve-story office
/ building, to cost $4,000. are now rapidly
going up. and plans rur another Of the
same number Of stories are being Drepar-
3 ed This latter viii cost il is said. SlGO.-
J 90 Curious to note. both these buildings
which viii be more costly than any except
the Federal building. not burned. that ex-
d listed in the city before the fire. will be
erected by capitalists who were not resi-
. dents Of Jacksonville and purchased the
lots since the FIRE Substantial brick build-
ings. most Of them two stories. are being
buIlt on the lots throughout the burned
section. on Bay. Main, Laura. and For
syth streets. This speaks well for the re-
Operative powers Of the community when
il is borne in mind that the total insurance
money collected was but S5o0J.d0e. while
the best-informed business men place the
total loss al from SI5.000.0 J8 to S25.8J00 900.
+ This estimate was recently made by the
executive committee Of the relief associa-
ton.
In general the new business buildings
will De decidedly better thar those which
were burned. The city council. as soon as
possible after the fire. passed a building
ordinance which in its restrictions as to
thickness Of walls. materials etc. is In
large measure modelled after the New
York city ordinance, and the improved
character Of construction viii be largely
attributable 10 this The duties Of build
ing commissioner are placed by the Ordi-
nance on the city engineer. who is q com
petent and conscientious official. and the
promise Is that the regulations viii be en-
forced The ordinance considerably eX-
pands the brick limit as 70 residences.
and the "metal-rOofed~ limits are made
practically coexteusive with the burned
residence district Single roofs were gen
eTal IN the residence section before the
IRE. and II was for that reason that the
names spread with such fearful rapidity.
Work has been started in the rebuilding
OF the new Windsor Hotel The building
burned was frame boXIike structure OF
pine. four stories high. and covering al
most an entire square. The new Windsor
is to be Of brick. 1--WE stories high. and is
70 cost, furnished. $4,000 II VIII occupy
the former site on the west side Of Hem
ming Park. As vet nothing has been
done looking 10 the rebuilding Of the ST
James the winter tourists. hotel which F..
FACED Duval Street north Of the park.
htStdence JuIdlng "a comparatively Z
slow People are rebuilding their stores 3
nrsI The families Of the weIl-to-do D
classes are for the most part in the noun
talnS or IN the North, and IL is likely that /
the boom in home restoration viii not I
be considerable before next year. This I
90 q, iil,.'1 p. on course. 70 D. understood I
as comparative Probably 40o dwellings .
or one sort OF another are being built
and a number are completed.
Nothing has been done as vet 10 pub I
lie buildings Bonds 10 the extent Of 500 4
W0 VIII be voted during the present month 7
Tor the rebuilding OF the City Hall two .
court houses, county jail, police station. .
ana hre station This sum VIII appear /
small 10 most readers. and IL is small. but .
the taxpayers are tmorOuS about in
cTeaslng the debt, especially as they be- I
neNe that the IRE has for the time al .
least greatly reduced the aggregate OF :
property values for taxable purposes.
ne nre has not reduced the value Of I
real estate IN the slightest degree except /
OF course. IN the actual destruction Of I
houses \ lot anywhere in the burned .
district VIII bring every dollar now that .
%
recent transfers The erection of the cftv
ana county buildings VIII De undertaken /
soon after the bonds are issued
None Of the churches have as vet been
rebuilt though all OF them wiz be The
various pastors have been aking assidu-
Gus EFFORTS 10 raise money elsewhere than 2
IN Jacksonville. 10 assist in reconstruc-
ton, ana generally they have been sue
cesSlu The plan seems 20 be- however /
20 accumulate enough 10 insure Credita-
bic edi1ces before beginning To rebuild
Meanwhile the congregations are worship
M m tents and In the two or three oub- Z
ne nails left. The St Johns Episcopal +
church congregation is using the United E
states court room
he community has ~ no means re- :
covered from the fire. Hundreds Of fam I
lies are badly crippled financially. and ,
they viii not recover for years At the /
same time. the tone is cheerful. and re- !
building. and plans Of the new homes
have long since sUpDlanTCd the FIRE and its Z
succeeding period Of desoIatIon and suffer I
ing as topics Of popular conversation.