Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-05-22
FOR LIBERAL ARTS
Sort of BuiId9rg They Will be
Housed in at the ST. Louis
Worlds Fair.
PLANS IN CONTRACTORS HANDS
No Pillars Inside the RuiIding-An
Exceptional Girder = Cost
and Capacity.

st. Louis, May 22.-PIans and speci-
fications for the Liberal Arts building
| one of the giants of the eXposition's
main picture. have been issued TO gen
eral contractors by the director o.
works. This building is different from
the others in several important re-
Spects. 1t Will have the biggest truss
yet planned for any exposition build
ing. This truss is to have Il span OF no
feet and weight thirty-three tons. and
height between its horizontal chords
of twenty-five feet. The reason for
this big span is that the architects
have eliminated entirely from the
building all interior columns. Every
post that supports truss will rest on
pilmG instead of SpreadfoOtings asin
the other building. and each pile is To
be not less than thirty feet in length.
Biggest Column in ''StafT."
The Liberal Arts building is to have
the biggest columns ever produced in
staff. They are those which flank the
big main entrances. They have Il diam
tter of nine feet ANA height of nine
ty-two feet. towering far above the
prescribed cOrnice line OF sixty feet.
1t * TO be III large part built over
peninSular lake. The director Of works
las decided not to fill this lake COM
plcte except along the outside and in
the court. The flooring is 10 be laid
on iOiStS instead of on SiccpcrS bedded
in the clay as III the other buildings.
Moods a Lot of Dirt First.
Even i'll these allowances there will
be more filling on the Liberal Arts
building than on any of the others eX-
cept the Machinery. Sixty thousand
cubic yards of earth must he dumped
on the site before the building can be
got up. Much of this earth is to be
taken from the eastern spur of Art
Hin, and the specification warns the
contractor 10 inVeSti lite the character
of the soil on the hill. The Inference
il that il may contain material hard
to move. As Il result of this large
amount of film" the amount of piling
is greater than i'm any other of the
buildings. because the foundation must
rest on the natural earth.
Features of the building.
The Liberal Arts building is the first
entirely symmetrical building let. One
fourth of this building is precisely like
every other quarter. 1t is the first
building in which all the angles are
angles are right angles. 1t is the first
building, therefore. whose plan is Il
rectangular purallelOGram. The other
plans We're double rhOmboidS. The
contractor can figure fourth of the
building ana multiply by four TO get
his bill of materials The building
has two central entrance pavilions
each IG2 feet high 10 the base OF the
qIadriSa that SurmoUntS them-hi@h-
or than the ordinary twelve-Story Of
fee building. Their floor space is 100
10y 40 feet.
Some of the Embellishments.
There VIII he an inner court. on
which the architects have expended
much thought. In each angle is Il
magnificent fountain enriched with
sculpture The doors are the most
ornate yet devised. They are open
glfllS rather than doors. the Srillwork
being of papier maChe vanished. The
average height of the building is nine
~ feet. although il preserves the pre-
Scribed corniCe line OF sixty feet, and,
while there are no large towers. the
massive entrance paviliOnS cause this
increase in the average height The
dimensions Of the building are 100 by
525 feet. The estimated cost is S4G0,-