The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-06-05
THEY DESIRE TO MAKE BUILDING A
CREDITABLE MONUMENT.
Mr.. Rankin Talks About Material to
BE Used and the Time Re-
auired for Construction.

pal object in making the present trip 10
Indianapolis, which is his first, was to re-
ceive suggestions from federal officers as
to the probable amount of space they will
need in order to transact their business
with comfort. The architect also gave
close heed to any other suggestions that
were made. He will pass to-day in a sim
liar manner, and will return TO Philadel-
phia tomorrow.
Mr.. Rankin was seen at the Columbia
Club last night in company with Mr..
Young and the two men were talking earn
estly and with considerable enthusiasm
about the building that is 10 be the pride
of indianapolis, if not. indeed, of the en-
tire State The architect is a very young
man, with a face that strkingly reveals
both intelligence and acumen. He dresses
with an extreme of neatness that amounts
TO elegance. He is evidently wrapped up
thoroughly in the matter of designing the
new building There are few structures
in the country that have as large a scale
as the new federal building in this city will
have" he said ITO illustrate my mean
ing, | cite you to those pillars pointing to
the columns in the handsome hall of the
club) Being of imposing height and thick
ness. they call for surroundings in perfect
harmony The new federal building will
have pillars or columns five feet four inches
thick. and. of course, the rest OF the struc-
ture will have TO conform 20 this massive
ness. 1t is a pretty serious matter to Sc
lect material for a building of this kind,
and if we do not choose the right material
in about fifty or sixty or seventy years
from now we will be blamed for il. You
know the architect helps to make the his
tory of his time"
a CREDITABLE MONUMENT
81 suppose it is going to be your ambi-
ton to leave a monument here that will
be creditable to you," interposed Mr..
Young.
THAT is the idea exactly" responded Mr..
Rankin. And the site chosen for the In
dianapolis building is going 10 be of i'm
mense help in creating such a monument.
None of the other federal buildings, except,
possibly, the Emigrants' Station, in New
York harbor, possesses the admirable site
that the new indianapolis federal building
will have"
Mr.. Rankin said that the office of the SUI
pervising architect in Washington was fur
nished with photographs of the site and
also drawing showing every detail before
they let the contract to the architect. This
drawing was used in determining the exact
location of the building, which will be we'll
away from Ohio street. Mr.. Rankin said
that one-third of the site will be reserved
for lawn, and the building will be placed
about in the center of the remaining two
thirds ''One of the fnestimable advan-
tages Of Square &c. said Mr.. Rankin, lis
that ii will enable the building to be set
back from any of the four streets by which
1t is surrounded. Thus passersby will not
have to strain their necks TO get a full
view of the structure from bottom to top,
but ii will lie out plainly before them in a
field OF comfortable vision. That is a draw
back possessed by many handsome build
ings in the country-they are so disposed
that one cannot obtain a comprehensive
view of them in comfort"
The new building will be of ample size
for all purposes and for the length of time
IL may be expected to continue. 1t will
be 36O feet long, 224 feet wide and so feet
hlgh. The two main entrances will be from
the Ohio-street side. There will be an en-
trance each on the Meridian and Pennsyl-
vania-street sides. The Meridian-street
side will conform very closely in design to
the main entrance, except. possibly, that
pilasters will be used on Meridian street,
instead of massive pillars. on Ohio
Will be so located that a splendid oppor-
tunity will be afforded for building beauti-
full approaches and imposing baIustrades.
es, but you don't want to include the
cost of those things In the appropriation
for the building" hastily interposed Mr..
Young, for we want the building to be
just the thing. We will have to get another
appropriation for those extra features"
"Oh, certainly" replied the architect I'VE
could not include the cost of approaches in
the appropriation for the building since IL
expressly stipulates the things for which
it is TO be used
KIND OF MATERIAL
Mr.. Rankin talked Interestingly of the
kind of material that will probably be used
in the new building. "Of course. that cam
not be determined until the plans and
specifications have been drawn and the bids
for the building have been obtained" he
said. ION account of the large scale of
the structure, material of coarse texture
will have TO be used or, If a fine material,
such as Indiana limestone is employed.
the coarse effect will have to be obtained
by a coarse 'tooling' of ii. Whether we
can get that effect with the finer grade of
material is something that we will have to
decide.
Mr.. Rankin expects TO complete the plans
and specifications for the building some
time in September. These plans will be
comprehensive. including every detail to
the most minute, in the entire structure,
such. for instance, as the amount of radia-
tor surface. amount and size OF electric
wiring and tubing and the like. These will
be the working plans 10 be used in Sc
curing bids for the actual construction of
the building. After the contract is let, full
sized details will have 10 be furnished as
the work progresses. When the plans and
specifications completed by MeSSrs
Rankin and Kellogg. they Will be sent 10
Washington and carefully gone over in
the Office of the supervising architect.
About two days will be required for this.
They will then be signed by the supervis-
ing architects. after which they will be
turned over 10 the photogra phing depart
ment and about fifty sets of blue prints
made from them. In the meantime adver
tisements will have been inserted in news
papers stating that on a certain day plans
and specifications can be had for the pur
pose of estimating the work needed in the
construction of the building. Requests for
these blue prints will come from contract
ors in various parts of the country. who
will. upon receiving the plans and specifi-
cations proceed 10 make their estimates
and arrange their bids. This will consume
about thirty days. When the bids are re-
ceived and the successful one designated
the architects will reserve a number of
''alternates. so that If any changes are
found necessary In certain parts of the
structure as for example. in the kind of
material to be used I'm given part. the
changes may be made without readverts-
ing for bids. The contract will be prac-
tically let 10 one firm. The reason for
| this is 10 insure the rapid completion OF
! the building Where several contractors do