The Minneapolis journal., 1904-05-11
W Handsome, Fireproof Structure,
il With All Provisions for
/ Comfort and Safety.

| Tentative plans for the auditorium
and office building which the North
western National Life Insurance COM
pany expects to build at Eleventh
street and Nicollet avenue, are pre-
i@ented herewith. They have just been
perfected by A. B. Chamberlin of the
Architectural firm of Bertrand &
Chamberlin, after many weeks Of
travel and study, in which the best
points Of every well-known music hall
I'm the country were considered care +
fully. The result is an auditorium
fsuch as Minneapolis has needed for |
years, and which, so far as can be
seen in advance, meets every require |
ment.
Naturally the chief interest centers
in the auditorium portion Of the dual
purpose building, and in fact, the de- |
tail plans for the office building have
not yet been perfected. AS indicated
In the accompanying floor plans, the
Northwestern National Life Insurance
company Is devoting three times the
space to the public that 1t is for It's
own quarters. The auditorium Will
face Eleventh street, where 1t has a
handsome frontage Of ITO feet. From
this the building runs back 22O feet.
The first important feature which
has been considered is that of exits
and entrances. Mr.. Chamberlin has
arranged his floor plans in such way
that the patrons for the main floor,
the balcony and the gallery do not
mix at any time. Thus the main floor
patrons enter any one OF the hVe en-
frances shown between the columns
on the Eleventh street side and pass
TO the right or left down into the long
spacious promenades from which they
enter the auditorium at the side. The
balcony people instead of turning to
the right or left from the foyer, pass
directly forward, where they find
broad staircases Of easy ascent leading
A. Ia11
the gallery have separate entrances
which they can use either from the
street or the foyer as the management
deems proper on various occasions:
The box office Is conveniently located
In the foyer and is SO arranged that
1t can be reached without breaking
thru any of the incoming lines of peo-
ple. A handsome carriage entrance is
provided on the alley on the south
side Of the auditorium.
Plenty of Exits. @
The main auditorium will be en-
tered thru four arches at each SIDE,
or thru two at the rear. The main
arteries for distributing spectators will
be aisles intersecting a broad trans
verse aisle at the center OF the audi
torium. This gives entering patrons
a minimum distance to travel from
the entrances on either side, and also
ansures emptying the auditorium in
the shortest possible Time.
A similar scheme Of entrances is
provided for In the balcony, but the
special feature Of the second floor Is
the large supplementary foyer, 2Ox11O
feet, out of which open retiring and
toilet rooms for men and women. This
foyer will be handsomely fitted up, and
It Is the intention to encourage social
gatherings here in the intermissions
of concert programs.
Both the gallery and balcony, as
will be seen from the plans, are very
narrow at the sides, but three tiers
of seats being provided, but at the
year they are much deeper and carry
eight tiers Of seats.
A sound-Throwings Stage. .
The prosoenium arch will be severe
ly plain in it's lines, but of materials
which will readily lend themselves to
ornamentation. The opening will be
65 feet wide by 40 feet, and the stage
itself will be built on the lines Of an
enormous speaking trumpet. From
the line of the footlights to the rear
the stage Is 40 feet, but the organ will
take up eight feet Of this space, form
ing a handsome background for the
\ recess, which Is otherwise to be fin
ished in plain woods The side walls
and ceilings of the stage, which has
a seating capacity Of 400, are made
to diverge from the rear along the
lines which are considered to be the
best for sending the sound thru the
auditorium. From the south side OF
the stage opens q large room for the
use of assembling bodies of musicians,
and the corresponding space upon the
Nicollet avenue side of the stage is
taken up with ten convenient dressing
rooms, five on each floor. For these
rooms there is private entrance, di-
rectly off the park, which will face
Nicollet avenue.
The seating capacity provided for
in this hall Is about LOO on the main
floor and about 500 each in the bal
cony and gallery, with 400 on the
stage. Exits are so arranged that this
large audience can leave the build
Ing in the shortest possible time. Thus
the main floor patrons will find ten
exits into the corridor which sur
rounds the main hall, and can pass
either directly forward out Of the
| pass thru any Of the three openings
in the north or south walls of the
structure. A ten-foot' alley separates
the office building from the audito.
rum. The foyer will thus be used ir
evacuating the building only by the
people coming from the balcony, who
will come down the stairs opening or
either side of the box Office, and fine
the Eleventh street exit Immediately
In front of them across the foyer. The
gallery people have their own separate
exits on Eleventh street.
1t will thus be seen that no stream
of people Is obliged to turn any sharI
corners or to impinge upon anothe
line emerging from some other ext
into general passageway. Even tn