Evening star., 1909-04-11
Ideal Site for a City.

city, and. like Washington and ST. Peters
burg. was laid out by skillful engineers
before a lot was sold or a house erected.
Several of the families still hold their
titles direct from the President OF the
United States. through the commissioner
of public lands. The town was laid
out in 1919 upon an ideal plan. The
streets were made 100 feet wide. at ex-
act right angles, equi-distant, according
to the four points of the compass, and
each square contains precisely two acres
divided into four lots. The streets run
ming north and south are two and a half
miles long, and from east to west two
miles long. SO that the town occupies an
area sufficient to accommodate one hun
dred times the population, which is about
5000.
Architectural students go to Tuscaloosa
to study Greek porticos and pure colo
NAL designs. The principal residences
were built long before the civil war, when
Tuscaloosa was the political capital, the
seat Of learning, the social center and
the home of some Of the wealthiest fam
lilies in the south. Fifty or sixty years
ago the town was also of commercial
Importance, where the planters from the
northern and central parts of the state
came to sell their cotton and buy their
supplies, which were transported between
Tuscaloosa and Mobile by steamboats, on
the Black Warrior river.
Tuscaloosa Is Old Fashioned.
But all this glory has departed. and
Tuscaloosa is almost as old fashioned as
the gowns and the bonnets that ladies
of the ante-bellum aristocracy used to
wear But. as / have said, recent at
tempt has been made to mOdernize the
university and introduce more practical
courses Of education. The ancient meth
ode I,
gle between the conservatives and pro-
gressive element, several new chairs have
been added to the faculty and student
may now study architecture. electricity.
of learning. in addition to mathematics.
moral philosophy. Latin and Greek and
other dead languages to which the cur
riculum was limited until recently.
At a recent commencement the society
Of the alumni, which had been in q rather
comitose condition since 1885. awoke to
the realization that its beloved alma
mater was far behind the times. and 1t
organized under a banner which bore the
motto: Half million dollars university
Improvement in next five years" Mr.. Hill
Ferguson of Birmingham was elected
president, Mr.. Robert Jemison of Bir-
mingham, chairman of greater university
committee, and other committees were ap-
pointed to hustle for students. to lobby
with the legislature for appropriations: to
secure a library building, to solicit con-
tributiOns for endowments and to CO.
operate in bringing the institution up to
the grade of the best modern universities
in other states.
Alumni Contribute $4,000.
At the commencement of 1907 a group
of the alumni Clipped in 5000 and en-
ployed Mr.. Parsons, the landscape en-
gineer in charge Of Central Park, New
York, to prepare plan for the improve
ment of the campus. which includes 100
acres or more of a beautiful grove lying
upon the banks of the Warrior river. No
college in the world has a campus of
greater natural beauty, but 1t has always
been neglected and it's beauties have been
unappreciated. Mr.. Parsons plan included
the designation Of locations for future
buildings to form a quadrangle with ex
tensions to the east and west. The orig
inal buildings Of the university were of
the same classic design as those which
Thomas Jefferson planned for the Uni
versity of Virginia at Charlottesville, with
lofty Ionic pillars and peristiles, Greek
porticos and colonnades, and the rich
planters. merchants and professional men
we're so impressed by their beauty and
refinement that they adopted similar de-
signs for their residences in Tuscaloosa.
The recommendations Of Mr.. Parsons
contemplated the erection of several nee
essary buildings In harmony with the old
OHe5, WHICH were " Dc TeSlOTcU 10 tHelT
original condition. and committee OF the
alumni went before the legislature with
his plan in it's hands and obtained an
appropriation of half a million dollars to
pay for a group of three buildings, to
be available in installments Of $780, 900 q
year. in addition to the regular appro-
priatiOn for the support OF the instftu-
tion, which is about $4,000 year. But
the trustees of the institution are very
conservative and some Of them have an
tiquated ideas of economy. They con-
sdered 1t advisable to buy as many bricks
as possible with the appropriation and
put them up in the cheapest form. with
out regard to art or harmony or external
appearances. They declined to accept Mr..
Parsons plan and preferred to employ
architects and contractors that would
charge the smallest fees.
Constructing a Power Plant.
The committee Of the alumni had long
struggle with them, but was. finally able
o secure compromise, SO that the new
buildings are in harmony with the old
ones They are now constructing a power
plant to furnish light. heat and power.
a modern machinery building and a build
ing for geological and chemical labora-
tories and museum. A large central aca.
demic hall will be the next Undertaking
The old buildings have been thoroughly
renovated and the University of Ala
bama is now practically regenerated, with
new inspirations, enlarged facilities and
wider influence. The medical department,
which is at Mobile, has also been en-
larged and improved at a cost Of $4,000
nr AhercromLie the ureSident jS a