The Savannah morning news., 1904-10-04
OPEN BANK BIDS
WEEK FROM TO-DAY
TEN STORIES AND BASEMENT
NEW BUILDING WILL HAVE, MAX
ING 1T TALLEST IN CITY.

AFTER Award OF Contract ana the
Building viii BE Finished by
August, 19OS-WilI BE Steel Frame
Structure of Marble or Lime
stone, the Very Finest Gray Gran
lite CoIOred Brick and Terra Gotta.
Mr.. H. w. Witcover. the architect
for the new ten-story National Bank
of Savannah building, which is to be
erected at Bull and Broughton streets,
returned to the city yesterday morn
ing. and Tuesday. Oct. II, was fixed
as the day for opening bids on the
building.
The bids for the construction of the
building must be in Mr.. Witcover's
Office in the Gernania Bank building
by noon Of that day. Mr. Witcover
will at that hour take the bids to the
National Bank, where the directors
will open them. and the contract will
be awarded as soon as possible. Work
will be started Immediately afterwards
and the building will be finished by
August, 1905, according to the con-
tract.
Two Kinds of Bids.
Bids are being asked for both on the
five-story and ten-story structures,
though the latter is now almost GER
tain to be erected. Besides being the
tallest building in the city it will be
by far the handsomest. Erected next
to the Germania Bank building and
towering two stories above it, it will
give Savannah one block of buildings
at least the equal of any in this sec
ton of the country.
hp-
sides the basement, more than half of
which will be above the level of the
sidewalk. In the basement there will
be five stores, three of the stores fac
ing Bull and two Broughton street. The
general construction of the building
will be moledel after the very best
steel frame, fire-proof structures in
New York. All the latest and the
most approved features of the modern
office building are to be embodied in
the structure. About 500 tons of steel,
to say nothing of stone and brick, will
be used.
French style of Architecture.
1t is to be of the French style of
architecture, which is now so much in
vogue in the modern New York build
ings. The unique feature of the first
story of the building will be the recess
ing of the banking room walls back of
the lot line, thus forming an open ar
cade. The bank floor is to be elevated
above the sidewalk five and a half
feet. and below this are to be the
stores. BY this arrangement a large
portion of the stores will be above the
sidewalk and the open arcade makes
the entire front of them visible.
The walls of the stores and bank, and
all around the arcade. on both street
fronts, and on the lane side, up to the
hight of the third story windows, are
all to be faced with either limestone
or marble. Bids are to be received on
both. Above the third story window
stills, and up to the bottom of the ninth
story, the walls will be faced with
impervious, wire cut. front brick of
gray granite color, and the windows in
these stories will have corbled stone
sills and terra Gotta arches. The ninth
and tenth stories and the parapet on
the street fronts will be entirely of
terra Gotta, very ornamental in de-
sign, with terra Gotta columns extend
ing through these stories.
Handsome Bank Entrance.
The main bank entrance will be
through a handsomely carved arch
way, thanked on either side by carya-
lids, supporting a heavy balcony or
namented by bronze railing. This
main entrance will be at the round
ed corner at Broughton and Bull
streets.
The bank proper is to be reached
by ascending several stone steps,
through bronze entrance gates and
thence through revolving doors, that
will keep out all draughts. The en-
trance to the Oglethorpe Savings and
Trust Company is to be on Brough-
ton street at the west end of the
building. and is also emphasized by
balcony supported by carved brack-
cts.
The entrance to the offices will be on
Bull street next to the lane. This also
will have balcony highly ornament
ed with carving and brackets. The
front of the first story arcade is to
be treated with arches between rusti-
Gated pilasters with carved caps and
bases.
Entire Structure Unified.
The general scheme of the exterior
treatment, architecturally is an orna-
mental stone base up to the third
story, thence a plain shaft up to the
ninth story, and an ornamental capital
consisting of the ninth and tenth
stories and the parapet This treat
ment subdivides the exterior into pro-
portionate groupings thereby unifying
the entire ten stories into a general
design.
The first floor is to be devoted en-
tirely to the banking rooms and the
trust company, with the exception of
the corridor on the lane side contain
ing the office entrance. The bank will
contain four vaults, one safety deposit
vault, one for the Ogiethorpe Savings
and Trust Company and the other two
for the National Bank of Savannah.
The directors room will be over these
vaults and will be well lighted from
the light shaft.
Basement COnveniences.
Below the bank floor will be the
basement containing the five stores, a
storage vault for the bank, a bicycle
room, and the machinery hall for the
various boilers, etc, used I'm the build
ing The basement will be more than
half above the sidewalk, so that it will
be well lighted.
Entrance to the stores win be direct
~ from the sidewalk. down a few
steps and into the area way back OF
the arcade. The area way Is to be
arranged so that 1t will drain imme-
diately, and the stores will be perfectly
dry at all times. There will be stor-
age rooms for the stores beneath the
sidewalk, lighted by prismatic side
walk lights. Each store is to have a
front entrance and also one from the
rear.
Special attention is to be given TO
lighting, heating and ventilating the
stores. The ventilation will be obtain
ed by means of temporated fresh air
supplied by approved blower and ven