Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1916-06-15
TO attain THE
''c|7Y BEAUTIFUL"
How to Plan the Municipality
For Community's Life.
MANY INTEGRATED VILLAGES

George 6. Ford, consuItant to the New
York City Committee on the City
Plan, Gives Glowing Picture Of tho
Future Community Center.
George B. Ford, consultapt to the
committee on the city plan, in his pa
per, Planning the City For Communi-
ty Life" at the national conference on
community centers held recently in
New York city, visioned the following
glowing picture Of the future commune
ty center. He said in part:
Every city is composed Of many
more or less integrated villages. Each
community has grown up by itself and
gradually become woven into tGe neigh
boring villages. Often with shifting
populations their homegeneity and in
dividuality are lost. Consciously they
are brought back, and community
solidarity is re-established through
such agencies as the community CEN
ter Each function of life in the
neighborhood focaliZes on a certain
limited number Of places or buildings.
Churches. lodges and clubs are scat
tered here and there. The local fire
engine house. police station. dispensary
and milk station are located wherever
land is cheapest. No two functions Of
local life bear any consciously con-
ceived geographical relation to one an
other There is rarely even SEM
blance of concerted plan for effecting
cooperation among these various func-
tons. Despite the example of the bust
ness sense that has been applied to
the coordination of functions in big
business" or in city administration lit
tie trace of it has appeared in the way
of planning the city or even its local
units for efficiency and amenity.
The first constructive step in CORE
lating such activities is bringing the
playground and the school together.
According to the Gary idea. they must
be together In any case, their uses
are so closely related that each is much
more effective if they are together. to
say nothing of the decided savings in
cost to be attained by having common
janitor and other service. Only by
such cooperation can full value be OBJ
tanned from the schoolhouse at all
hours of day $50 days in the year.
The next step is to group near by
various other commonly used build
ings such as the public library. the
public bath. the public local market,
the churches, the lodges and clubs.
even hospitals and poor farms.
The following step would be to in
duce the local stores and business
buildings and the various commercial
tied amusements to locate along the
approaches to the center and thus viz
tually all of the common activity Of
the community would be concentrated
In one thoroughly familiar and easily
accessible location. The more uncOn-
Scious the habit the greater the fire.
quency with which individuals or fam
lilies would foregather Suggestive
plans for such ccnters were presented
recently in a neighborhood center COM
petition under the auspices of the City
club of Chicago and also in the plans
made several years ago for the SOU
lard civic center" in st. Louis. Such
grouping of public and semi-public
buildings is bound to have a marked
effec. on the individual members Of
the neighborhood, They become con-
scious that somehow the district is
distinct entity. A local civic spirit is
engendered A distinct community life
takes form.
However, grouping the various build.
ings and open spaces so that they op.
crate efficiently together is not enough.
We must have beauty as WELL Our
spiritual man Graves beauty. 1t should
mean everything to the child as he
grows up to have lived in an environ
ment of beauty. If he does not get it
during his formative period he will
probably never love the beautiful for
its own sake. Concretely this means
designing attractive yet simple school
buildings and setting them in a park
like playground where children can be
taught to respect and to love the grow
ing things Of nature. Well designed
and set public buildings in such
neighborhood center would become an
object lesson for private builders Com
petition would set in until all had con-
trihuted 70 the charm Of the district
There are few things that foster local
pride more quickly than do good build
ings wei: Get, among attractive parks
and streets
AS you let your Imagination play
with the possibilities Of the plan there
gradually rises up before you the vision
Of tie great city plan Of the future-a
city of many villages, all woven to-
getEer. each complete and sufficient
unto itself in the everyday things but
reaching out beyond for the extraordi-
nary.
To Improve Health Conditions.