Evening star., 1921-10-06
BUILDING DELAYS
PUT ON ARCHITECTS.
ssupt. BaIIou Tells School
Board Office Fcrce.Is
Inadequate.
Mr.. EDWARDS AROUSED
Finds Twenty Months More Will
Be Needed to Finish 81, 100000
Eastern High School,


DR.. Frank w. Ballou, superintendent
5of schools. yesterday. informed mem
$bers of the board of education in
public meeting that the delay in COM
pieting the new Eastern High School
and in starting work on two new
junior high schools and the Lew
tubercular school was attributable to
the inadequate size Of the force in the
Office of Municipal Architect Harris.
The superintendent's explanation of
the reason for the holding up of the
emergency building program in these
instances was given at the request of
Daniel A. Edwards, member of the
board of education. who announced
that he had discovered yesterday that
it will take at least twenty months
more to finish construction of the
Eastern building.
Scores Building Delay.
ct have found on inquiry that there
is no show of completing the new
Eastern High School building before
twenty months" Mr.. Edwards said
This building has been agitated for
two years. and a year ago last spring
Congress authorized the expenditure
of sl.o00,000- The municipal architect
assured me that the building would
be completed by this autumn. /
visited the building today and found
practically no building activity going
on. 1t is taking number of years
to build a structure which a private
Meanwhile the enrolment at Eastern
is goo and the present building has a
II would like to know the reason
for the continued delay. The press
states that there are so many changes
nf ha. h1.il
architects are too busy making altera-
tons to proceed on the plans. I would
like to ask DR.. Ballou what he knows
about these reported changes"
DR.. Ballou Explains Delay.
DR.. Ballou replied that only general
plans for the structure had come un-
der his observation and that he had
not seen any detailed layout of the
designs. He explained that Mr.. Har-
ris, municipal architect had called
his attention to the deSirability of
rearranging the entrance to the build
ing so that entry and exit to the
structure might be facilitated and
that this recommendation had been
concurred in and the changes made.
Several relocations OF partitions in
the basement also were found neces-
sary. he said. DR.. Ballou declared
that the plans drawn by the former
municipal architect We're incomplete,
and that he had recently transmitted
these plans. since completed, to the
office of Mr.. Harris The superintend-
ent suggested that if the board were
interested they investigate further
into the whole matter.
Il do not know of any city where
plans are not drawn under the di-
rect supervision Of the board of edu-
cation that it does not take about
three years to buud school build
ing DR.. Ballou observed "Cities
where the schools do their own con-
struction planning get better re-
Suits" he said.
At this point Dr. H. B. Learned.
member of the board, remarked that
the public can look. forward to an
intelligent consideration of school
plans by school officials under the
present regime.
Inquiries Into Contracts.
Mr.. Edwards asked further why
contracts for steel work and other
later processes of construction were
not let in advance. SO that the ma
terial would be ready when the base
ment work was completed. He said
that there are 1900 students on Capt.
tol Hill waiting to enter the new
school
DIR. Ballou replied that the archi-
tect's Office was rushed with twelve
plans for school buildings, in addi-
tion to other municipal projects. The
architects themselves knew that the
program Of drafting laid out for them
was too big and they engaged nine
pritata architects to assist lin the
Wohb be said. This accumulation of
Work has prevented the drawing of
eSen one stroke on the plans for the
tfvo new Junior high schools and, so
FIR as is known, on the new tubercu
l&r school. the superintendent said.
FIT is most unfortunate. especially
il view of the fact that the buildings
v}ere asked for under an emergency
appropriation act" DR.. Ballou con-
Guided.
tDr, nSimon called attention to the
cbnfetence tonight on the new tu-
bkrcular school plans. and it was an
rbunced that the meeting would be
/ Itlblic.