Arizona republican., 1913-05-26
PRA1T-G|LbERT PLAN HANDSOME
 MODERN HOTEL
Concrete Structure Erected By Aiken System Will Provide Offices and Store House With Ninety-Nine Rooms Above.


 Central avenue, south seems des- tined to become more important ho- tel section than ever before. At present
 there is being erected a forty -five-room addition to the KerSting House, be- | tween Jefferson and Madison streets, while in the block just south and west ! Pratt-Gilbert about is erect an office | building and store room, will so con- struct the building that it will be upon completion, in addition to it's primary purpose, a ninety -nine-room hotel of modern type. In many respects the
 new structure will be the most inn 1 portant construction work to be under
 taken in Phoenix in several months Pratt-Gilbert recently secured the
 entire holding of the Valley Lumber
 company, comprising 300 feet on South 1 Central avenue and 100 feet on Madison
 street and the Santa Fe Tracks This i property almost immediately adjoins
 the Santa Fe depot, only the Hardwick 1 Hotel being between on the fifty-foot
 space. The Valley Lumber company
 thereupon secured a tract 300 by 15O on 1 East Madison street between Third
 and Fourth streets. That concern is
 
 buildings as it will require to house
 it's offices and store rooms and in ad-
 dition is surrounding the remainder with substantial concrete foundation 1 and corrugated iron sheeting for yard 1 purposes It will be ready to occupy l it's new property in the very near 1 future
 1 When Pratt Gilbert determined to I build it was at first planned to erect l a concrete structure of not more than i two stories, with the idea of ultimate 1 Iy turning the entire structure into a hotel. Tn conference with representa-
 tives of the Arizona Concrete Con- struction company, employing the Ali ken system of construction, it was found that a three story building could | be erected at about the cost of the ! two story building they had planned. ! In addition, tenant was found ready ] to sign a ten years lease at a very sat 1 isfactory figure for the use of a lobby
 on the ground floor and the ninety-one rooms included in the second and third ] floors.
 | Messrs. Scott & Macdonald, archi- 1 tects familiar with the Aiken system which provides for the construction of concrete walls laid in a horizontal po- 1 perpendicular, are just now engaged in 1 drafting detailed plans, following out l the general ideas of tentative sketches | submitted previously and virtually ap- l proved. It is understood that Pratt | Gilbert are prepared to expend s65,000 i for such a building as it is claimed can 1 be built by the Arizona Construction 1 comany for that figure.
 The proposed building will cover an
 area of 100 feet by 13712 feet, with | basement extending under the side walks The first story will be used for l offices and the store and showrooms of
 Pratt Gilbert, with the exception of i the southeast corner in which will be
 located a lobby 26 feet by 50 feet to be | used as the hotel office. This will connect with stairways and elevators 1 to the second and third floors. Of the ninety nine rooms on the sec
 ond and third floor sixty -four will be | provided with private baths and every l modern convenience. In addition there will be two public boths on each floor. The rooms will all be outside rooms, some facing on broad courts furnish 1 ing abundance of light and air. There will be one hallway extending the en- ] tire length of the building on each | floor with three cross railways leading ' l from either side of the main hall. The plans call for an entirely con- 1 crete and reinforced steel structure.
 even the roof being of that material
 making the building absolutely fire l proof throughout. The foundations will be laid with the expectation of
 adding two more stories when the busf- ness of the hotel may require. With the employment of the Aiken
 system it is made possible to make the decorative features absolutely part
 of the original walls, doing away with ! the unsightly board marks of forms and saving the additional expense Of decor
 atng after the structure proper has | been erected. It is expected that the l property will be vacated in time to ! begin actual work of construction
 within a very few weeks. The building should be ready for occupancy in the early fall