The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1921-02-03
Bonneville Has
New Court House
CONTINUED from Page u
much larger than is necessary, but
that is generally good fault. The
lavish expenditure of money that

| seems TO us unnecessary Is Tor th(
central part of the building. A cor
ridor twenty-one feet wide leads
from the front to the open corridor
under the dome. A great lobby sixty
feet square occupies the center oil
the building under the dome and on
the second floor a similar space is
built in the form Of court with the
central part cut out so that it is all
open from the dome to the bottom
floor. This gives two spaces sixty
feet square that are enclosed, but are
serving no useful purpose excepting
for halls and for purposes of beauty
Citizens who want that much terri
tory enclosed with expensive mater
ials to constitute the ante-rooms to
the offices, have what they have
ordered. This space is nearly large
enough to contain Bingham county's
court house except in the matter of
height. Leading from the central
court in four directions are broad
corridors twenty-five feet wide and
forty-five feet long leading nowhere,
but to the edge of the building and
apparently entirely unnecessary, ex-
cepting as a hall into which the Of
flee doors may open. Aside from
that they serve no useful purpose
whatever and like the central court
are damage in this respect; persons
desiring to go from one office to an
other across the hall instead of being
able to arrive at destination by TAX
ing walk of eight or ten feet across
the hall, walk a distance, say from
twenty-one feet to sixty feet accord
ing to which hall or corridor they
are crossing. AS we calculate it the
average unnecessary width and the
average unnecessary length of trips
in crossing back and forth from one
office to another is thirty feet each
way or sixty feet wasted travel on
each round trip and the persons
working in the offices as we'll as the
persons attending to business in the
different offices make hundreds of
trips day and for each 100 trips
made by an individual he travels
over a mile further than is neces-
sary If the building were we'll plan
ned for efficiency and use. Every
body's time is worth something and
the time of the officials travelling
back and forth across the hall iu the
transaction of their business is paid
for by the taxpayers day after day
and this waste territory enclosed in
the center Of the building adds quite
perceptibly to the expense of getting
the county work done. The original
waste, If 1t shall be considered a
waste, of the original construction of
the building seems considerable, but
the waste of lost time in operating
The county Offices from year to year,
will eventually be greater than the
waste on the first cost of the build
ing.
AS we said in the beginning it is
built on the plan of capitol buildings
and capitol buildings are generally
built for show rather than for eff
iciency. When a firm erects a build
ng for business house to be OPP
Grated on a competitive plan, they
never erect any such wasteful struc-
.ures. If one firm did it, then a
could come in and build
IN efficient structure, one that could
)e operated at lower cost and |
eventually drive them out of business
)ut the public, the taxpayers, are
an inexhaustable mine of |
wealth to be mined year after year |
or all times, to pay the expense of |
operating their own government and |
t the expense of operation is low it |
S all right, but if it is high they
simply have to pay it. The govern
nent is not money making bust
less, but money spending business. |
People have got so they do not expect
state house to be erected for eff
iciency, but for show and Bonne-
lille county has followed. the state
house idea in putting up something
or show and not for economy.
We are glad that Bonneville
county has what it wants; we think
their courthouse has some
advertising value in making a good
on visitors, who may
'ome to the place, for not all of them
re analytic, but are Influenced by
irst impressions and their first i'm
'ression would be that it represents
wealthy county; county with con-
iderable courage and forethought as
yell as foresight in building for the
uture and that is all very good.
We asked a number Of leading