Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1905-12-28
The seautiful washington Station.

A writer ia the Architectural Record
has the following about the new union
station in process Of construction at
Washington, ID. c., ia which Bethel
granite, furnished BY the l.. b. Ellis Co.,
plays an important part
mot the least remarkable thing about
the great terminal station, which is now
beginning TO rise from the two million
yard fiji at the intersection Of Massa-
chusetts and Delaware avenues IN Wash
ington, is the fact that it is a monument
in enduring granite to the Chicago
Worlds fair and its architect, Daniel H..
Burnham. The White City Is vanish he'd
like a beautiful dream, but its chief de-
sgner, grown greater with the years, has
produced in this building a structure
which surpasses the most beautiful of
the ephemeral creations Of the vanished
city
"The new terminal is less than the
Capitol in one dimension only, that Of
height, but viewed from the northeast, it
is the dome alone that surpasses it 10
height In the dimensions OF length and
breadth it exceeds the Capitol, the sta
TONS length being 760 feet, as against the
Capitops 746 feet O. inches, and its
breadth being 3l3 feet inches, as against
4 the Capitol's go feet 10 inches
1.-THE cost of the entire improvement
will be about s1i,0O0,000, including track
4 Encouragement, the building OF the new
/ plaza and the establishment of the new
streets.
1.-THE Washington station will have no
/ large span train shed as il has been found
/ that great sheds have not justified their
enormous cost They are always dark,
dirty and leaky, and in winter afford
small protection from the cold. In this
/ particular case an enormous train shed SO
near the Capitol was regarded as tending
4 to dwarf the dune OF what must remain
/ the most notable building in Washington
/ Instead of the train shed there will be
umbrella sheds, covering each platform
and wide enough to overlap the trains
and furnish protection from the weather
"fhe exterior is to be OF white granite
/ from Bethel, VT. This material has an
/ interesting story connected with it. II
| had previously been used in but few
buildings, although it lies in limitless
quantities in a hill back OF Bethel The
owner OF the quarry or property on which
/ the quarry has been made was a crank of
the deepest dye, who, because his only son
was killed in railroad crossing accident
near the town, swore a solemn oath that
as long as he lived the material should
never be used except for tom bstones and
so it remained until his death, when the
property passed into the hands of those
who undertook the work Of introducing
1t as building material.
ut required some considerable boldness
on the part of the architect, as well as a
good brand OF confidence in that architect
on the part OF his client, to chose an UNI
tried material for so great and important
a building as the station, but the white
ness OF the granite fitted in with the color
OF the architects dream, and now that
the dazzling. creamy white blocks are be-
ginning to show and give promise for the
finished work, it simply scores another
| success for the men who dare and do.
at is expected to have the building en-
closed next summer, and unless some un-
expected setbacks are encountered it will
be finished by the first Of the year 1907.