The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1906-10-08

The new Cook county courthouse.
which was recently dedicated at Chi
cago. will be the largest structure OF
the kind in the werld. says the Chicago
Record He.ald 1t viii contain 1o00o.-
coo cubic feet of space and is TO be
larger than the First National bank
building. twice rs large is the Railway
ExchaDg, building and two and one
half times rs large as the old county
courthouse. It's cost viii be. including
furnishings. 100000.
The courthouse will rest on 100 con-
crete caissoas. whose diameter is from
four to ten feet each. These caIssons
extend down to solid rock. 10 feet be
low street grade. and contain 4oo,Uoo
cubic feet of concrete. or twice as
much material as is embodied in the
Auditorium tower The concrete
weighs $4,000 tons and would fill 1000
cars The structural steel is of the most
durable and heavy sort. 1t weighs 11.ooo
tons and wotffd I'll 400 freight cars or
the modern type. The granite 20 De
used for the exterior Of the building
will measure 21o.000 cubic feet and VIII
weigh 1900 tons. 1t would I'LL ooo
railroad cars Therefore the total
weight of the building, without interior
works or furnishings. will be oS.ooo
tons, including the concrete founda-
tons. Leaving them out, the totai
weight will be 25.C00 tons. The adoi-
tional equipment probably will bring
up the aggregate weight TO $4,000 tons.
The new courthouse will have floor
area of fourteen acres and one mile OF
corridor space. The floor space of the
old building was five acres. The offices
of the county, collector and recorder
alone will have 10000 square feet of
floor space or 10000 each
The new ediice will be a departure
in that it will be constructed on ONCE
building lines. Heretofore, architects
say, public buildings have had ornate
exteriors with interiors that had to mt
the plan of construction, General
effect was sought for. and not the com
fort and convenience of the pubic
officers who were to use the building
in their daily work. The building will
be magnificent, even if 1t lacks a rev
of the old time structural frills. There
will be a dash of the classic in its de-
sign. and the aesthetic eye VIII be
more or less satisfied. The structure
will be marked for it's grandeur, so
ldity and repose.
The three double doors in the main
entrance will be separated one from
the other by piers. At the right ana
left of the entrance and between the,
doors are to be four carved figured
panels in high relief. Justice" will be
depicted in the;panel at the right of the
entrance. and at the left VIII be
great panel symbolizing Law" On
shield between, the figures will be
carved the. seali of Cook county. Two
panels are Ato Sbe over the piers be
tween the doorsAand one will represent
Labor on Land'1 and the second La
Dor on Sea"
The three 1nainidoorways will be 90
feet high and 12sfeet inches in width.
There also arei to be entrances on
Washington and Randolph streets, but
the Clark street approach and lobby will
be the most pretentious. The caller, as
he goes into the building from Clark
street, will find himself in an immense
vestibuIe finished in marble and
bronze. with marble and stone pan
eled floor and carved ceiling of orna
mental glass and bronze. The main
hall and corridors of the first floor will
be finished. in Italian marble of soft
buff color. The walls, arches and
vaulted ands nodded ceiling will be of
this marble. and the panels will be
filled with rich mosaic of Italian Re
naissances design,> similar totthe palace
Of Mantua ands other Italianabuildings
but with such Symbolism as will make
the effect fittinssas to time and place
The floorswill bespaneled OF from pier
to pier By cola-ett marble and further