The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-12-31
BUILDING
 REVIVAL IN 1919.
Apartment Houses and Dwellings Will Lead Way
 in Large Cities.

Despite the unusual and varied fac tors affecting construction work at this time, indications point to the greatest building revival during 1919 which this country has ever experi- enced. This is true largely because certain classes of structures must be erected almost at once to provide for actual demand.
 First of all, in the larger cities,
 apartment houses and dwellings will lead the way, but closely following
 will be office buildings, lofts and in-
 dustrial structures. Then there will
 be tremendous amount of bank building. All over the country our
 financial institutions have been car
 rying on their work in their old homes, in crowded, inadequate quar- ters, waiting for a favorable time to
 erect new buildings or modernize their quarters for remodelling. Banks have never been more prosperous, and the ! bankers seem to feel that not only
 will they be meeting an economic need by building now, but that their
 action in this regard will set a pre-
 cedent in their communities and en-
 courage other owners to build. It IS the specified wish of the government that, in order to provide employment,
 construction work be put under way
 at the earliest possible moment.
 Tn the industrial as we'll as in the
 domestic and commercial fields, build
 ing should see a large and healthy
 increase in volume. New factories
 must be built; plant extensions are an economic necessity, war plants, in
 stead of being scrapped or aband-
 oned, will in many instances be al-
 tered for peace work
 Housing for employees, which receiv-
 ed such an impetus during the past
 years, will be carried out on 8 vaster
 scale than we had ever thought pos
 st5le. Employers have recognized the
 actual money-value return of provid-
 ing good housing accommodations foI their employees. It is fatuous to be- lieYe that the employers have not profited by the lessons of the war They have learned that contente6
 workmen are the best possible asset
 that high labor turn over is wrong ] and expensive, and that proper hous. ing is one of the greatest, if not the
 SSeatest factor in reducing labor turn. II over and keeping employees happy or = hthe job.
 e The immense amount of reconstruc = tion work to be done in France ant f Belgium is going to affect building n conditions in this country more thar e is generally realized. This is true - particularly in regard to prices fo1 f materials. The excessive demand fol - certain materials for use abroad, i r most likely to keep prices in thi! l. country up to the present high level
 Steel, so far, has been the only ma # terial which has shown any tendency If to decline in price, but, with tn Q great number of kinds of building II needed, the matter of cost will prob ', ably not enter into calculations a much as under ordinary conditions s It should be remembered that sine !, 1914 this country, except for a shor , period in 1916, has been underbuilt. u Building must cease being a gam
 bling proposition, the owner takin 'e a long chance on getting his struc T ture erected for a sum of none, Il which he sets aside in the beginning l. In the future, there must be a close 1T and fairer relationship between tn l. owner and the builder The builde
 must gain the confidence of tn IS owner, and, in turn, the owner owe e certain duties to the builder Unde g the usual building procedure, tn > builder is a gambler, too; taking 1T job on a low competitive bid an, ,r hoping by some hook or crook t It make money on it. The formation 0 le the Associated General Contractors 0
 America, recently worked a grea :" step forwardi in raising the buildin ,r industry to a higher level, and it g through movements of this kind tha "a the investor will feel free to put hi n money into building operations.