The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-11-02
Council Committee Wants to Bond For
 New A!mshouse


 which will have charge of the con-
 struction of a new almshouse, if the
 electors should vote $225, 1000 in bonds
 Tor the purpose, have issued the fol-
 lowing appeal:
 To the Public of the City of Bridge
 port:
 At the meeting of the Common
 Council of .his city held April IS, l9lO, resolution was introduced by
 Alderman Jackson which provided for the appointment of committee of
 five aldermen by his Honor, Mayor Buckingham, to ascertain the condi- : ton of the almshouse and what pro- visions could be made for the care of
 the poor and make recommends tions
 to the Common Council in reference to this subject Acting by virtue of said resolution the mayor appointed Aldermen Griffen, Conlin, L4avery, Stewart and Jackson, to carry out this work This committee set about the task delegated to it in an earnest and de- tefmlned manner. It visited the pres ent buildings and was surprised to find the inadequate quarters provided for our poor, needy and crippled The
 main section of the building was erect ed in 1865 and contains wooden floors, /, long narrow wooden stairways, no pro- vision for ventilation, narrow dark corridors, and dormitories which con- l stitute veritable death trap. This
 section contains the sleeping and ! cooking quarters, cells for the insane patients, recreation rooms, store rooms, etc., and is also furnished with blind water-close situated in the cen ter of the building with no way of be- ing ventilated. This section is in a deplorable condition. 1t was also as- larged about 25 years ago by the ad- dition of another wing, and that this wing is in no way an improvement. It was with apprehension that each 1 member viewed the sleeping quarters 1 Of the unfortunate inmates. They. found that the second and third floors were used for this purpose and that there was accommodation for about 150 inmates on each floor. There was only one way of egress from each floor and that was by way of long narrow, wooden stairway placed near l the center of each room. What mem
 Der of the human family can resist shuddering when he contemplates what lives would be sacrificed should a
 fire break out in the middle of the night? How could 250 or 300 inmates or even one half of that number es- | cape from this death trap? The quarters are also sadly in need of ven 1 tilation, being located directly over the cooking quarters. The committee had
 no complaint to make about the clean Illness. and management of this institu- tion, having congratulated MT. M. c. Cowles on his efficient work. The committee also gathered statistics con-
 corning the produce of the land.
 Having completed this work every member of the committee was impress ed with the need of some change over ! these intolerable conditions. The first thought was to sell the present prop erty. if possible, and secure new To- cation for our almshouse. Every available spot in this vicinity was in- spected and after much argument and deliberation, the committee decided | that this plan was not feasible for 1t was impossible to obtain a suitable 1o- cation. Tn searching for a site there are many things that must be con- sidered especially location with a | taining of supplies, and the condition of the soil, so that an adequate return may be obtained from the 1abors of the inmates.
 Abandoning this plan, the committee decided to visit neighboring towns with a view to finding out conditions in these localities and by comparison to formulate some plan which would be Ia solution of the entire problem. With | this object in view the committee in conjunction with the Board of Chari- | ties visited New Haven, Hartford, and Meriden and were much impressed with the manner in which the poor of | these towns were cared for. The committee secured many useful and valuable ideas and were well satis- l fled with these tours. All this work was carried on without the outlay of one cent by the city.
 Having obtained many new and orig l inal ideas the committee proceeded to work out their recommendations to the Common Council. To accomplish this one member of the committee moved | that all local architects be invited to appear before the committee. Those | appearing were given an outline of l the ideas formulated by the commit | tee and were invited to furnish plans, and were told to use their own judg- nent in the layout of the building and arrangements, etc. As a result of this l step four sets of plans were furnish- 1 ed under a non de plume. In order to carry out this work, the committee realized that a certain sum should be | so appropriated so as to be available If needed. The Common Council appro- priated $500 for this purpose and up l to date the committee has not expend- I ed over $100, which sum was paid to an expert to estimate the cost of a building on the plans as furnished. Having received four sets of plans the committee proceeded to examine | W plans agreed with the committees 1 idea, sthat the remodeling of the pres l ent structure is a waste of money. The walls and foundation of the pres ent building are in no condition to stand unsupported nor would they be strong enough to support a new fire proof building. The interior of the | building is in poor shape and it would be quite a proposition to house the inmates during the progress of the l work. The only question to be con sidered was, whether, a new aims house should be erected on the pres ent site, with the attending difficult ties of housing the inmates or whether another site should be selected on the same property in a more suitable To- cation. The latter alternative was adopted both by the committee and architects and the plans called for the erection of building facing on Pa1i sade Avenue, thereby occupying the eastern section of the wide expanse of pasture land belonging to the city. In order to be fully informed con- corning the cost of the buildings as proposed by the various plans, the committee engaged an expert to figure on them and estimate the probable cost of the buildings. With these fig ures as basis, the committee decid- ed that an almshouse could not be erected for smaller sum than $225,- GOO, for all figures on said plans ex- oeeded that amount. The figure in- cludes the cost Of furnishings, sewer connections bOiler engines. and all