The Savannah morning news., 1903-02-20
FOR A CITY HALL
SAVANNAH IN NEED OF NEW MU-
NICIPAL BUILDING.
MERCHANTS SAY so.
TAXPAYERS WHO THINK IMPROVE
MENT SHOULD BE MADE.
MERCHANTS

In Deciding to Tear Down the City
Exchange and Put Up "a Modern
Structure City Council Seems to
Have Struck Popular ChOrd-NO
Opposition Has DeveIOped-Opin-
ion Appears to be That the Work
should be Done-City Fathers
Have Delayed Long AIready-New
Building VIII Put Fresh Life Into
Day Street.
City Councils plan to build a mod
ern city hall appears to have struck
popular chord. The subject was gem
orally discussed yesterday and about
the only question raised was the To-
cation of the new building. The ma
jority of people, however, seem to be
in favor of the present site, and this
question has already been settled upon
by Council.
The special committee which has the
matter in charge has done nothing yet,
but plans will be secured within the
next few days. 1t is proposed to have
erected handsome building of prob
ably five stories. A member of the
committee said that there will
be plenty of room for the offices
of the various departments and that
it is intended to have a floor so ar
ranged that it can be used at some
| future time, if it is found necessary.
1t is Councils intention to put up
building that will be a credit to Sa-
vannah and that will serve the city
for years to come.
On Site of Present Exchange.
1t has been determined to build the
new city hall where the City Exchange
| now stands. Under no other circum-
| stances could the city afford to erect
! building such as it is intended shall
adOrn the foot of Bull street Then,
too, it is pointed out by some who have
| given the question long and earnest
consideration that if the city hall
| should be moved from the present site
| it would be the death blow to Bay
| street. On the other hand, a modern
| building at the foot of the city's most
| prominent promenade would give back
to Bay street some of the life and spir-
! it that it has lost
| Business men spoken to on the sub
| ject all expressed themselves as being
| in favor of the immediate construction
| of a new building. 1T is something
that Savannah has needed for a long
| tlne, SAID prominent mer-
| chant. 1T is quite a source
of qualification to see that Council has
taken this matter up and will see to
| it that city hall is erected that will
| be a credit to Savannah. A modern
building will make a good impression
upon visitors to the city, and the pres
ent building has done the opposite for
| several years. The improvement is
| much needed one and l am certain
| that City Council will meet with no
| opposition in carrying out it's present
| plans
To Consider Plans.
Before plans are asked for, the spe-
| cial committee will hold a meeting and
decide upon just what sort of building
| should be erected. 1t will be hand
| some in design, commodious and well
| appointed. 1t will be quite a good deal
| higher and deeper and wider than the
present building and is certain to con-
| tain an elevator. There will be COM
! mittee rooms, a Council chamber and
| well equipped offices, such as are
| found in all large city halls. Just
where the city'S headquarters will be
while the work of constructing a new
city hall is going on has not yet been
| considered, but the members of the
! committee do not apprehend that there
! will be any difficulty on this score. All
| of these minor matters will be taken
| up after plans have been finally agreed
| upon.