Omaha daily bee., 1907-05-04
MILLION FOR COURT HOUSE
QUESTION Of IEsuing Bonds Likely to Be
Submitted to People
JOHN LATENSER DESCRIBES HIS PLANS
Five stories with County jail
on Top and Retain ola
Building Until New
one g. Up.
JOHN LATENsER DESCRIBES HIS PLANi

Shall Douglas county issue 100000 in
bonds for the purpose Of erecting court
house in keeping with the importance Of
the city and county,
This substantially Is the question which,
II present plans are carried out, will be
submitted to the voters Of the county at
the election this fall. The members Of the
county board are in favor of the PROPOSE
ton and while final action has not been
taken II has practically been agreed to ask
for this amount. With it ave-story build
ing, up-to-date In every particular, allow
ing four stories for county offices and the
fifth story for the jail, could be erected
and equipped.
Members of the county board believe the
bond issue, could be made and retired
without increasing the present mill levy
and possibly with even a decrease in the
mill rate 1t is believed the money could
be secured for 81 or 81 per cent interest.
This would make the interest for the first
few years approximately $4,000 with a sub
stRntial decrease each year as the principal
is required. A one mill levy will raise the
amount now and with the increase in the
valuation of the property would raise con-
siderably more than that within
few years, Another mill would provide
fund which It is believed would enable the
bonds to be retired in twenty years.
The present levy, the commissioners be-
lieve, can be reduced from 8 to 36 mills
owing to the splendid financial condition of
the county, hence an additional 2-mill levy
for the building could be made without
increasing the levy above the present one.
Plans by Isatenser.
John Latenser, the architect, has drawn
floor plans for the proposed building which
will give plenty of room for many years
to come and will be so placed on the court
house square that a counterpart Of the
proposed building could be erected in the
future without disturbing it. This plan
contemplates the leveling of the court
house square to street grade and the park
ing of about half the square. which would
form a foreground to the building.
"The question first raised" said Mr..
Latenser discussing his plans, was,
should the present building form nucleus
for the new building, or should 1t be re-
moved2 The present building is practically
without light, and the auxilliaries, such as
electric light, modern plumbing, modern
heating and elevators. These in a modern
| building constitute about 30 per cent Of
the cost of the building. In considering
whether we should leave the present build
1 ms VI hpNt Wp SlAOuAu ASlll6AuutI INC IlO-
ment we build on 50 It we lose all these
suxiliaries, or 80 per cent of the cost of
the building, and, in addition, we would
have no light. Surrounding the present
court house with wings would throw 1t into
darkness. Any large improvement would
/ require that the center be a court and not
| a building.
What About the RecordsF
"If in our judgment the old building
should not form the nucleus and should
| be removed. what is to be done with the
records and the county offices while we
| build?
1.-The new building should be 80 built that
! the present court house could remain in
use until the new building is finished and
| then torn down after the new structure
is occupied. This would give us the bene-
At OF the retaining walls but the material
IN the old building would have to be sold
afterward. Any improvements. no matter
what kind. would require the grading Of
the site No new buildings in any city are
set above street grade.
Our plan shows the court house as II Is
now. When the new building is finished
we would have an open square and an open
park in front Of the building the full length
Of the building east and west and about
ninety feet north and south This would
\ give the building a foreground and show It
to be a public building. The building can
be so placed in doing this that later It can
| simply be turned on its axis and the other
half built on Farnam street This would
avoid the mistake made in the present
building. Thus we get the temporary ben
eft Of small park and later on as the
| city grows we can build in front"
| Location of Departments.
"The building itself would have base
ment used for the control and installation
of the auxiliaries-that is. the electric ma
chinery, sewer, pipes, electric wiring, dis
tribution, secondary storage vaults. etc.
ION the first floor would be the four
larger offices, namely register of deeds,
county clerk, treasurer and auditor. On
J the second floor would be county court,
county officers, county commissioners.
county assessor, sheriff, etc. On the third
| floor would be four court rooms. each
court room to have a judges room, a Jury
room, a witness room, etc. On the fourth
/ floor would be four more court rooms with
/ the same auxiliary rooms as the third
/ floor. on the fifth floor would be the jail
Minneapolis has the Jail on the top story
/ Of the court house and It Is satisfactory.
It removes the feature OF the prisoners es-
/ Gaping by means Of outside doors and pre-
vents the periodical threats Of lynching
/ Prisoners would be taken into the basement
/ from Seventeenth street and then to their
! own apartments from the basement IN a
/ privafa aIavator Harnav atrrat manila -