Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-12-20

on which the courthouse now stands,
It is an excellent business location.
but is not the place for the new one.
Then purchase a site facing the park,
possibly at Fourth and Walnut
streets, extending to Aberdeen street,
which ts to be widened to eighty feet,
and to Strawberry street. 1t would
not be cheap location. but 1t would
not be extraordinarily expensive and
certainly Is the right place for
building such us the city and county
needs.
Advantages Evident
zone objection which have
heard to the plan to build facing
the park extension is that the state
will have buildings opposite the new
structure. That Is true, but neither
the state, nor the local authorities
would build on the building line.
With Walnut street widened to about
seventy feet and both the state and
the city and county structures back
thirty or forty feet there will be
about 16O feet between the two.
| The advantages to the city and
county In selecting site there are
evident. Walnut, Fourth and Aber-
deem streets win be on three sides
| Va thO hSW 5tEuCIuT0s ouInClenC bpdCe
Will De available for a building of
the proper size. A structure to pro-
vide for. the present needs of both
city and county, and looking toward
future growth. is absolutely essen
tial. can remember when the pres
ent courthouse was large enough for
botf local administrative offices.
Now the city has only q few in the
building"
! Engineer Makes Suggestion "
II. Clark Cowden, engineer for the
Slty Planning Commission, was the
Hrst 10 seriously consider the plan.
members said. At a meeting of the
pooy ne made the suggestion and
the members at once approved II.
Mr.. Herman explained.
| study the situation as it is at
present. The Post Office, the Penn
harris Hotel, the Technical High
school, Pine Street PRESBYTERIAN
church, the Masonic Temple, and
another Masonic building in North
street, face the park. More build
lngs or similar nature will be con-
structed on the streets surrounding
the park and eventually the area is
pound to become the center of a
growing municipality. Why should
not Harrisburg and Dauphin county
nave the building to be used by both
Tor governmental purposes, located
In the same place? 1t will be GER
traily located, easy of access, and
VIII be another big step forward"
MT. Herman in addition to advo-
eating the sale of the present court
house site. said: The county tail
does not belong on one of the prin-
| cipal business Streets. We have out
grown the old way of peHning men
behind four walls, often for petty
ofenses. Many of the prisoners in
that Jail are not criminals. They
nave committed misdemeanors and
it Is proper that they should be con-
fined, but why not have q big in
stitution located four oE..five miles
from here and develop an industrial
rarm so that the men could get out
In the open and develop body as we'll
as mind? Look at the work the
prisoners did on the road at Speece-
vile. They are anxious to get some
ing to do, and it is not right to cage
them in narrow cells"
Mr.. Herman's plans met with ap-
proval of a number of residents and
businessmen. Some of them de-
clared 1t would be q serious mistake
to erect new courthouse where the
present structure stands.
Time to Move
One man said: Picture a new
structure, from six to eight stories
in height, fronting on a busy high
way such as Market street. To the
east is an office building, in the rear
the jail, or another large structure
should the prison be sold, and on
the west and rear of buildings 'front.'
ing on Market Square. In other
words, courthouse and city hall
crammed into a narrow area, with
only a wide highway in front. Un-
doubtedly the new builLing should
be constructed first with the thought
of its usefulness to the public but
there is no reason why such q struc-
ture can not be placed on O site along
the park"
County Commissioner Henry NJ.
Stine in speaking of the proposed
plan for the new building said:
When we come to consider the site
will be glad to have the officials
discuss the advisabiIity of having
the courthouse facing the park. We
have sufficient time to give the plans
much thought and our first move
will be to get legislation to permit
the city and county to proceed to-
gether."
City COMMISSIONER S. T. Hassler
took q similar stand and said: I'm
deciding where to erect the court
house and city office building 1 GER
tainly believe we should consider
the proposal to place it in the civic
center to be developed around the
Capitol Park and decide which of
the two places which are suggested
would be the best in time to come"
TEACHERS GO "OVER TOP"
Teachers in the Maclay street
school building have again demon
strated their loyalty and report a