Los Angeles herald., 1910-06-03
HAVE CITY HALL PLANS;
WANT DEPOT At PLAZA
Improvement Association Favors
Spending S10,ooO,O0o on
Union Station Project

Plans for a proposed new city hall
to be erected on the site of the Temple
block, recently purchased by the city
for that purpose, were submitted to the
North, Northeast and Northwest I'm
provement association at its meeting
in the chamber of commerce yesterday
afternoon by Architects Neher and
Shilling.
The plans call for a modern office
building, following in this respect the
new city hall in New York and the
proposed structure in San Francisco.
The building Is to be in the form of a
letter "a" and Of eleven stories, with
basement and sub-basement. The
first, second and third stories are each
to have 1880 feet of floor space, and
those above 16,300 square feet. The
cost will5b be practically $1,O00,000
The plans, complete in every detail,
were approved by the association and
a committee consisting of Joseph Mes
mer, Frank M. Coulter and j. M S.
Schneider was appointed to urge upon
Lne city council their favorable con-
sideration. They are not official, but
are interesting as the first complete
plans prepared for a building which
will meet the city's requirements and
which is fitted to the peculiar shape
of the site already secured.
PLANS FOR CITY HALL
Otto H. Neher accompanied the
firms plans with a brief letter of ex-
PLANTATION in which he points out their
salient features. In this communica-
tion he says that the cost Will be only
about four times that proposed to be
expended by the water department for
building to house only that one de-
partment. The floor and corridor space,
he says, will be about so per cent
greater than that of the new Story
building at Sixth and Broadway or, in
other words would be equal to the
Story building should that structure be
raised to a height of seventeen stories.
There will be, he says, 631 feet of street
frontage, and every office in the build
ing will be an outside room, the light
court facing south and opening directly
into the street. He proposes six pas
senger elevators, freight elevator, a
large rotunda and a grand staircase, as
we'll as three minor staircases, one at
the end of each wing. There are to
be two principal entrances on Main
and Spring streets, and six of the
ground floor offices are to have en-
frances directly from the street
The association yesterday also
adopted a committee report in which
are embodied suggestions for new
union depot near the Plaza. The plan
proposed is a HlOSl 6ldDJIdLt OIlc, III
cludes a subway under Main street,
and the formation of a terminal COM
pany with a capital of $10,000,000. The
report advocates the following:
"Extend Main street north of the
plaza to a junction with Broadway on
the west side of the Baker Iron works;
thence over the new bridge to East
Los Angeles.
"Then take all of the land east of
Main street as thus changed to the
river and all of the land north of Sun
set boulevard as thus extended for
railroad grounds and trackage and
build the Union depot near the Plazo
additional land will be needed and
can be obtained on the east side of the
river as increasing business shall de-
mand. This is the best place for a
union depot, and for that reason we
recommend 1t.
"Also there should be built great
subway under Main street to facili-
tate travel through the city. To ac-
complish all this great terminal COM
pany with capital of $10,000,0OO should
be formed, and when the land shall
have been purchased the city should
abandon all streets through the land.
"The great industrial district shoult
extend from the Plaza along the river
toward the sea, with such switching
privileges as may be required to ac'
commodate and facilitate business