Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-01-15
Will Be Elevated.

| The Commerce building, being on some
what lower ground than its neighbors. will.
according to the design of York & Saw
yer. be elevated on two-story archi
tectura1 basement, so that the principal
floor. containing the Offices of the Sec
rotary and his assistants, will be the
third above the street. 1t will contain
in all 40 rooms, and besides accommo,
Labor will also be the headquarters of
the bureaus of corporations, census. light
house. immigration, coast and geodetic
survey. navigation, fisheries and steam
boat inspection service. Moreover. there
will be a large library. The total floor
area is over 100000 square feet. of which
the census bureau alone will occupy 1900
! square feet.
| Mr.. Drummer has placed the entrance OF
| the State Department building on the
Mall, at the western end, and on this side
will be the offices Of the Secretary OF
State, his assistants and clerks. 1t will
have 325 rooms. The central section has
been treated In monumental manner, as
this portion will contain the great state
| dining room, a reception room and the
international conference ROOM which will
be reached from the ground floor by an
imposing staircase. The library will oc
| cupy the greater part of the north facade.
In the Department of Justice building
there will be 225 rooms It's most inn
portant interior feature will be the large
law library. which. with the reading
room, will occupy 1900 square feet. The
building will be the headquarters of the
Attorney General, the solicitor general
and their assistants. the superintendent
of prisons, public lands division, pardon
attorney, disbursing officer, bureau of
investigation, and other dependencies of
the department. The building will be
the nearest of the group to the Treasury
and Municipal buildings.
Magnitude Of Work.
Some idea Of the magnitude of the
work devolying upon the committee of
awards may be judged from the fact
that each competing architect for the
State and Justice building was required
to submit SIX drawings, including the
elevations and interior plans. For the
Commerce building. which is two stories
higher than the others, eight plans were
|.submitted by each architect. For each
building twenty architects were invited
to compete. but one dropped out Of the
Commerce building contest. This made,
all told, 382 drawings to be considered.
OF the fifty-nine competing architects.
twenty-eight were from New York. the
others including the leading architects
of Boston, Philadelphia, st. Louis. Chi
and one from San Francisco. Not only
| did the New York competitors carry of
| all the awards, but the majority OF those
whose designs were credited with honor
| able mention came from that city. Those
who received the consolation honors
were James Gamble, Rogers, Warren &
Wetmore, and Harold Magonigle. all of
New York, In the State building contest;
| Cass Gilbert and Percy Griffin Of New
York and Park, Thomas & Rice Of Bos-
| ton, for the Department OF Justice. and
| for the Department Of Commerce build
| ing, Tracey, Swartwout & Litchfied.
| Max Friedlander and George Post &
Sons, all Of New York.
Arnold w. Drummer, the winner Of the
State Department building. Is just fin
ishing the new post once in Cleveland.