Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-12-31

A deal of building has
been done IN the city of Rock
/ Island dQpihgs the last year. represent
!. !. !. ]. !. /.
lEg$ e s&keeate expenditure which
- NJ tf6bably to none Of the
essN When the costs of all
y fther begun or finished
Y a<&r are summed up, the
lnlost two millions, TO
IAr1E $3.50. Chief among the
rtlnsa MHlH4 improvements Of the
Eve cd, to- Best block, which was
sc Gays at cost of over $4,000.
Difiiding, which is occupied by
the Young e McCombs department
:, 1uTea was started in 1905, but it was
rec ziatshed until this year The
Robinson estate made such a thorough
remodeling of the First National bank
block on Second avenue and Eigh-
teenth street that to all intents and
purposes it was changed into a new
building. The remodeling cost in the
neighborhood of $4,000. New and at
tractive fronts were built for the stores
which occupy the Second avenue side of
built, as were the upper stories, and
the inside remodeled.
Fine New Hotel.
Rock Island retained its own in the
possession OF a leading hotel for the
tri-cities when during the past year
the New Harper house was opened TO
the public under the management of
Carl, Mueller The Harper house had
been eclipsed to some extent b. the
building OF new hCstelries in both No
line and Davenport and is prestige
as the leading hotel of the three cities
has suffered. The ownership of the
property changed hands June II, Dr.
Joseph DeSilva becoming owner. and
soon afterwards il wGs leased to
company headed by William Betten-
doyf, Carl Mueller. 4. z. Anderson and
H a. J. Mcdonald and extensive plans
for remodeling and refurnishing were
adopted.
For several months the kQtel was
closed to the public. during which
time an army of worknen was kept
busy, and when the house was re-
opened again Aug. 3 1t tool its place
as one OF the finest hotels west of
Chicago. The lessees had expended
in the nefghborhood of S75.000 in re-
fitting and refurnishing the house and
everything was made up to date IN
every particular. A new cafe on the
first floor had been added and the old
dining hall on the second floor changed
into banquet hall The cafe was
dedicated Nov q, al which time it
was first revealed to public inspection.
Denkmanns Donate Library.
Announcement was made Jan. IS
that the heirs OF the late F. c. A.
g7stana college the sum of 100000
TO be turned into a library dedicated
to the memory of 1Ir Denkmann and
70 be known as the Denkmann Memo
rial library of Augustaua college. /
Work on the new building commenced
in the fall and the foundation has been
built and the cornerstone viii be laid
with all due ceremony sometime next |
month, according to present plans.
Another fine Improvement in the
building line is one authorized by the |
board of education when it decided to |
erect a new fireproof school building I
to replace the present Grant school, /
which is a frame, structure. The new /
school will be ready for occupancy /
when the fall term opens next year.
1t is to cost about $4,000.
Much other Building.
The buildings mentioned above are
not all the Improvements made in this
line during the year. There has been
erected or completely remodeied dur
ing the year no less than $50 build
ings This number includes dwelling
Houses. store buildings and whole bust
ness blocks Besides these there were
new shop buildings and store rooms
such as those serected by the Rock
ISLAND Sash & Door works and the
Pocle Island Lumber company to re-
place the much less valuable structures
destroyed in the first last year
One of the biggest works started
during the year is the immense factory
buildings3 on the old Gordon tract i'll
8 he east end of the city. These build
ssngss are TO be used bt- the Monitor !
Bffll company, a branch Of the Mo-
Sine PlcE company. and when they
ere comrIeted they will furnish place
sfsf er1pl oyEnent for nearly 2 thousand {
men The total cost of the new build l