Omaha daily bee., 1920-02-21
SAYS CAPITOL OF
STATE SHOULD Be
A N PIECE
W. W. Head, Member Of
Commission, Tells Of
Plans Before Lincoln
Woman's Club.

Lincolp Feb. 20.-(Special y
| Walter W. Head OF Omaha, mem
Der of the State Capitol commits
sion, addressed members of the fine
arts department OF the Lincoln
| Womans club Friday afternoon. on
Estate Capitbls and Our Own Cap
itol Building" Mr.. Head dis
cussed the why, how, what. where
and when" and said in part;
Pick Three Nebraskans.
"In order that our home talent
shall not be overlooked or crowded
out. preliminary competition was
held which was restricted to Ne
braska men. As a result three Ne
braska architects have been chosen.
To these three have been added
seven more of the best known and
the most successful architects in
large monumental work in the whole
country and these men, 10 in num-
Der, are about 70 start on the final
competition which, will determine
who shall design Nebraska's cap
itol.
Mr.. Head them quoted the fol-
lowing opinion of the commission On
the kind of building required:
"While the commission is very
anxious not to handicap the com
petitors, nor to limit the possibil-
tiles. it is nevertheless quite clear on
much that it seeks to realize in the
final result and will certainly be dis
appointed should the capitol finally
erected prove not to be:
"A Working Home"
First. A practical working
home for the state governmental
machinery, adequate not only for the
present needs of the great state of
Nebraska, but with provision made
or anticipated for further develop
ment and growth for a century to
come
"'Second. An inspiring monu-
ment worthy of the state for which
it stands; a thing of beauty con-
ce;ved and fashioned SO as to record
properly ard exploit our aspirations
and patriotism. past, present and fL-
ture; inteiligently designed, durably
and conscientiously built, and of
worthy materials. all beautifully and
fttingly set. surrounded, embellished
and adequately furnished
"Third. The whole accomplished
without friction, scandal, extrava-
garce or waste. A work calculated
to inspire pride in the heart of every
Nebraskan.'
Wants "Roomy" Site.
The question 'where?' is unpleas-
ant to me because the capitol COM
mission at the present moment has
very little to doN with it, 1t takes
thesstate legislature to decide that
question and it has said that it must
be on the present site of the old
capitol, which, in my opinion, is
entirely inadequate in size. When |
think how much more effective, in
spring and beautiful this monument
would be set i'll a great, splendid
trart of land, far enough away from
unsightly environments to be sure
that it would never have disagree
able surroundings, then I can't but
wish that I were the legislature for
few minutes and had this question
where" put up to me for a final
decision.
To Be Masterpiece.
Acting under the advice of that
please take it home to yourselves
to see that this great problem is
not undefestimated; to see that it
is not hurried; to see that it Is not
beiittled by lack of consideration.
In other words, take your part in
making sure that Nebraska avails |
itself of this great opportunity. If1
we all d. our part by pulling to-
gether, who shall say that there may
tectural masterpiece right here in
NAhroely, -