The Yale expositor., 1912-03-14

election April ISL.
That new building is very de
sirable and almost an absolute ne
cessity, is admitted by all who are
acquainted with existing conditions
and is emphasized by the practically
unanimous vote Of the members OF
the Board of Supervisors in favor OF
the project. The County. at present
has no building of its own, but is
occupying leased quarters i'm Port
Huron's City Hail for all of the coun-
~ Offices, excepting the Register OF
Deeds Office, which is located in a
separate building back of the City
Hall. These present quarters have
become greatly inadequate to the
needs of the several departmnts of
the county government, and there
is no possible way of properly safe
guarding and protecting the valuable
records in the several offices. The
vaults in the first place are too small
to accommodate all the records, and
secondly, are not fireproof. The sub
ject has been before theBoard several
times, Investigations having been
made both by the Board, and the
Board of Auditors, and attention re-
peatedly called to the great risk our
records are exposed to-
At the June, 1911, session of the
Board of Supervisors, the Board of
Auditors presented the following
communication:
TO the Honorable Board of Super
vsors of St. Clair County
Gentlemen:-We, the undersigned.
4 hn Rnor1 nf Additions Of l.,
County, would respectfully call your
attention to the urgent necessity of
providing additional vault room for
the several Offices of this county.
For sometime. great Inconvenience
has been experienced because of
the greatly overcrowded condition of
the record vaults and all kinds of ex-
pedients have been necessary to
make some provision for the rapidly
accommodating records. These records,
as you are fully aware, are of great
value to the people of the county,
and should be preserved in the best
possible manner, but owing to the
lack of room, this is impossible. and
they are now suffering much damage,
and which if allowed to continue,
WIN NDoN oiNiN uNtI vi llOHty W
remedy.
1t may not be generally known to
your honorable body that the present
vaults are in no sense freproof, and
that serious fire must surely de-
stroy documents and records of in
estimable value, and which could
never be replaced, and the experience
OF other counties that have met with
such calamity, ought to be sufficient
warning to this county against sim
liar loss AS this condition exists
and overcrowding has reached such
stage that it can be no longer over
looked, we would respectfully recon-
mend to your honorable body that
special committee Of your members
be appointed at this session, To give
the matter the attention it requires. "
This matter was referred to the
building committee, which at a later
date reported in part as follows:
Gentlemen: Your Committee on
County Buildings, to whom was re-
ferred the matter of vault room and
proper fire protection for the records
OF the county, would report that we
find the vaults in the office of the
County Treasurer, Register of Deeds,
Judge OF Probate, and the safe in the
office of the County Auditors, are in
dangerous condition. We find that
the vault in the County Treasurer's
Office has no foundation, as it stands
over a hallway below. The vaults in
the Register of Deeds office are
packed with books and the floor is
nnUnrn1 with thnn, l..
room on the racks. Also that the
south wall is settling and bullying out
and liable to fall at any thine, and
that SO far as fire protection is con-
cerned, there is none.
Concerning the Register of Deeds
office, we would further report that
we consider it disgrace to st. Clair
County. We are informed that there
are books lying around for want of
proper room that if destroyed could
not be replaced for $4,000.
We find that the building is heated
by two coal stoves. and that the fur
nlture is all constructed of wood and
would furnish fuel to help destroy the
records"
II seems to us that there can be no
question in any reasonable mind that
better protection should be given our
records than can be obtained under
present conditions. The records affect
millions of dollars worth of property,
many OF which. if destroyed, could
never be replaced. Every possible safe
guard should be provided for their pro-
lection. AS the building wherein most
of them are now housed is not owned
by the county, and cannot be advant-
ageOusly remodeled, the only alterna-
tive seems to be the construction of
Il new country building on a suitable
site to be used exclusively for county
purposes.
In connection with this matter, we
desire to call your attention that since
the county has been occupying its pres
ent quarters approximately $4,000 has
been spent in repairs and improve
ments with practically nothing to the
credit of the county to show for ii. If
the present arrangements should he
it would require an expense
estimated at $4,000 to remodel the
present quarters to make them safe
and ample TO accommodate the increas-
ING rpuuirpmpnts This pxnnnditIIrp