The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-08-21
AUDITORIUM TO HAVE
MINIMUM OF 1900 sEAT'
Council Committee VIII Leave Si7
Above That Figure to Ar
chitccts.
CORLEY FOR LARGER HAL
Music for the Masses. lie Says, Ca
Only BE Provided in Auditorium
Seating 5000 Pcoplc-Englneer
Eliminated From Competition.

Amending its original instruction.
to Architect Alfred ~ BLOSSOM for
auditorium seating not loss than 800
persons. the special Joint committee
the new municipal building last MGR
adopted unanimously a motion made
( alderman Barton ~ Grundy. nxfuR N
minimum seating capacity OF the aud
toriEfn. which tho proposed nluniclp:
! hhllding VIII contain. AZ 1000 with ~
understanding that competitors ii, III
Design competition may Increase IN
( seating capacity in accordance vii
their best Judgment.
INC dccialon was reached after III
inattcr vas threshed out To-, NOR. tina
IN hour John q. corley. Or i. a
Chandler and Alvin ~. smith plcedc
Win the committee to place no aud;
torium in the new buiIdlng With
seating capacity less than ; 900 m
advised that. rather than cut INC aca,
ihE capacity below that nrure. IN
auditorium feature be eliminated frof
the new building entirely.
.dr. 'oli"H o&i'laincd to thu co,nritl
'c. mat he was present as an tudiI
n."uai' ana not AZ an officer 81 III /
"Wednesday Club Tho city ,o,ld -
10 erect an auditorium that seated lcs
man 5000 people Tho prcSent -,
Nualtoriuin. although it Stats morl
man 5000. said Mr. Corlcy, was mol
.aiSe enough for tho needs Of IN |
Wednesday club nov .,t,,I,a,i,,y
seating 900 or 1000 such AZ ,yns r,rd
posed he said. would not serve ~
musical needs OF tho cltv n Won J
'uc present structure In tie Weqt Ent
Mr. '"rley based his plea Tor = larp
"nnlt"fluln on The ground that
would make possible a largo s,,,,h
~ seats a, popular prices THO wor
was educational, lie said, ana mean
should he provided hy which tbn nn,
ne could attend the opcra nj 10 cont,I
80 cents and 81. If an auditorium ..,,
,nt ",o'p people were provided. he said
tho city would raiae by public snh
scription fio.ooo with which To in.,,lI
q magnificent pipe organ
WOULD CTR n or
RATHER THAN REDUCE. y
NY forlcv replied that lie would nra
TT ,nat the auditorium be left out nj
together rather than 10 cut dove,
size. With a small aopronr,at,o,
inc Improvement of The present anal
forum, he said, II could he made !
serIe tho city's purpose for ton Cd
.w''Ne Years or until such a time wi,a,
me way would b. clear for tho erection
OF IN auditorium along the ure. suu
sestcd hy h;m.
~ Chandler was interested in ii
andlt"rium from the standpoint al
housing IN" annual school commence
ihehts tie advised against an audi
forum seatinE loss than 5000 Avid
" Sfn'th expressed the same view. Th.i
'S, ne sSla, was amply provided, Will
hiudli aHaiioriums and theatres rntI
unless ~" new ono IS to he largj
enough for every purposc il had bo,ta
mol be built lie was particularly, con
ccrhed that the new auditorium he pro
Fided with an ample stage.
Architect Bossom told tho commit
tee that while II was possible TO con
- Tllrt nl:GttprIr,rn ,,,it u
capacity OF 5000 II would entail. q
compared with ono seating $500 od
5000 people. an added expense OF about
$4,000. He reiterated his belief ,he
tho smaller auditorium would be found
the more desirable, and that II would
answer the city's needs for many wear
to como
This view WAS Endorsed by Coun
Gilman Peters. who made IL clear the
he looked upon the suggestion that tn a
auditorium TO eliminated altogether. a 4
an attempt TO KIN the whole huildIr q
project An interesting discussion or,
TINS point was cut short. when tn a
committee adopted Alderman arundy' 4
motion fixing the minimum sea ting ca ]
pacity At 5000.
The committee examined Nc appli ]
cations for programs In the design
competition. and voted to enforce 4
strictly the published rules undo n
Under these rules IL barred from tn 4
competition Bolton. Clarke & Prat'l
who, il was held. were engineers and
not architects. A motion was adopted
restricting the competitors TO those d n
tho applicants. who were licensed arch j
itccts In this city
The committee voted to reduce FROM
per cent 70 ) per cent the commits
sion TO be paid the architect submit !
ting the successful design. This feed
Is to be Inclusive, and is 10 cover a n
special charges and travelling expenses
The program submitted by Mr Ros
som and ratified by the committee q
fixes September ., as tho last day foI
hns with the advisory architect re !
quests for additional information. Re-
plies TO these requests VIII he made by
September 8. The programs will be
delivered TO approved competitors prob
ably next Monday. All designs will
have TO be in tho hands OF Clerk OF
Council Committees Mcdowell BY IL
o'clock noon on October 10.
Marriage Liccnsc.