The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1902-09-02
The NEW WEST POINT

Military School to Be
Greatly Enlarged.
ELABORATE PLANS DESIGNED.
Famous Parade Grounds Are to Ro
Extended and . Memorial Arch
Erected Thereon ny Immense New
aRiding Academy and Barracks VIII
BE Built-Fine Gymnasiun Planned
After all Its glorious history Of q
century past West Point is entering
upon a new and greatly increased USE
fulness, says the New York Herald. A
new West Point is being planned which
promises to far eclipse the old. The
ancient historic buildings are to be en-
larged or replaced by magnificent new
structures, the lannon's parade grounds
are to be extended, nearby farms are
to be converted into a great cavalry
parade ground and the side OF the
mountain which protects the Point 70
the west is to be reclaimed and set with
new quarters for the officers and hung
with gardens. A century ago the max
imum number Of cadets in attendance
at the academy was ~thirty-six, while
the average was twenty. Today the
maximum capacity is 500. The new
West Point will accommodate LOGO
cadets.
The new West Point which the acad-
envy has planned for the second CEN
fury Of its existence is entirely worthy
| Of its history. The changes contem-
plated have been designed with eau
ton and in the light OF much previous
experience. The academy Is at present
greatly overcrowded. In the barracks
there are as many 10 four men at pres
ent sleeping in a single room. The
officers quarters are insufficient. With
its present equipment it is impossible
to accommodate a single new cadet.
Meanwhile the demands Of the army
require a school at West Point capable
of accommodating about 1000 men. 1t
is expected that two or three years will
be required to make the alterations
contemplated.
On approaching West Point in the
future the first object to catch and
hold the attention will doubtless be the
new riding academy. The present
structure Is to come down. and on its
site and extending to the north a mann
moth new building is to be erected.
The new riding school will be the lar
gest in the world. It will be about
600 feet in length and 121 feet in width.
Its enormous bulk will doubtless domi-
nate the entire river front. 1t is to be
built in the Tudor style of architecture.
with castellated towers rising directly
from the sheer rock walls Of the point.
It will contain galleries for spectators,
ample stall accommodation for more
than a hundred horses and many rooms
for saddlers' stores. equipments and
fodder.
The entrance to the famous parade
ground is to be arched over with an
elaborate structure to commemorate
the achievements Of the academy in it's
first century. The present academic
building will remain, and it's clock tow
er will be carried up to a height of 26O
feet. On the site of the present chapel
a much larger building will be erected.
The arch will connect the two build
ings, providing a covered passageway
between them.
The historic row of officers quarters
facing the parade on the west is to be
torn down, and in its place immense
new barracks will be erected. The old
barracks to the south of the parade,
which have sheltered so man. famous
. soldiers, are to remain unchanged. The
, officers quarters, greatly enlarged and
improved, will occupy a position Tar.
). ther up the side of the mountain. The
new chapel is designed to occupy a site
, on the north of the parade. near the
/. civil war monument.
!, The famous West Point hotel is also
doomed. The plans provide for a parl
!, on it's site, overlooking the Hudson val
!, ley. The feature of the park, it is ex
pected, will be a large monument Of
Washington. which, %curiously, is al
], present lacking to the academy. A
; new hotel will be erected higher up OF
!, the mountain and to the south of the
y barracks.
: The parade is to be extended Owe
the entire area between the officers
quarters and the river. The plain will
, be covered with grass and surrounded
' with shade trees. The cavalry will il
the future maneuver on a specia
ground to the south Of the old parade.
Several important additions are alst
: to be made to the present gymnasium
The new gymnasium will have ample
:, dressing rooms. a fencing room, al
!, armory, a swimming tank. shove
:. baths, a SWITCHBOARD and bowling al
: ley, a basket ball court, a batting Gag,