New-York tribune., 1922-10-28
Hylan Board of Educa-
tion Will Appoint Four
Architects to Follow Old
Ideas in Building Plans
Will Receive 5 PC.
Of the Total Cost
Construction Standard
lied So Little Work Is
Left for the Appointees


will share in fee Of $4,450,000 which
tho city will pay for the construction
of more than 100 schools, as the result
Of the action taken by the Board OF
Estimate at its meeting yesterday. On
the plea that the building of schools
was being seriously delayed by the in
adequacy Of it's own construction d.
vision the Board Of Education request.
ed permission to hire outside archi.
tects to supervise the ss9,O00,00 build.
ing program planned for next year
which was granted.
The naming of the architects who
are to share the plum will rest with
the members Of the Board of Educa-
ton, in which Hylan appointees pre-.
dominate. They will be paid on the
basis Of per cent of the total con-
struction cost, as fixed by the Ameri-
can Institute Of Architects, which in
this instance will amount to almost
$5,000,00o.
No New Plans
Ordinarily the per cent fee is
supposed to cover the designing of the
buildings and the drawing of the
necessary plans and specifications
With the new schools, however, the
architects retained by the Board of
Education will not be called on to
develop any new designs. standard
type Of school structure has been
adopted by the education authorities
and approved by the Municipal Art
Commission. This plan will probably
be followed in the structures so that
the five architects selected will be re-
quired only to follow the sketch plans
already established and prepare de-
tailed building plans conforming to the
particular plots on which the schools
are to be built.
The Board of Education's budget For
buildings for 1923 calls for an ex.
penditure of s64,O00,000 and there is
still remaining from the 1929 appro-
priation approximately S25,000,O 900. It
was found impossible to use up all OF
the money niade available during the
present year because the education de-
partment's construction division could
not turn out plans with sufficient
speed. With the help Of the outside
architects it will be possible to com
plete the entire program within two
years, Mr.. Ryan said. -
The practice has always been to have
the plans for all buildings prepared in
the Office of c. b. j. Snyder, superin-
tendent of school buildings, and his
staff of civil service employees. A
standard type was developed which was
followed on all buildings begun in the
last two er three years. with only Incl
dental changes of plan to fit the par
tloular needs of each individual site.
Construction materials were also
standardized and made to conform to
the Board of Education's requirements
Only Forty Buildings Started
Even this simplifed method of plan
ming new schools and drawing up speci-
fications for them proved too much for
the construction division, Mr.. Ryan
told the Board of Estimate. 1t was
found possible to get only forty build
ings under way during the last year,
preceding years.
IF we have standardized plans and
enough key men to carry them out" he
said, Eve can meet the present emer-
gency, but we cannot meet it in any
piecemeal fashion. We desire to pro-
vide enough schools so that each child
will have seat, but we can't do it un-
less we change the program of pro-
cedure which has been in force for
twenty years or more.''
Mr.. Ryan thought that four or five
reliable architects should be employed
The fee to each would be S per cent,
although he thought there was a pos
sibility Of arranging slightly smaller
fee If the plans now in use are fol-
lowed. AS soon as plans are ready
the contracts for ten to dozen. build
ings could be let at one time, and the
work could be completed in from eight
to twelve months. Some Of the larger
contractors have already been con-
suited and have indicated their readi-
ness to go ahead with the work as soon
as the school authorities are ready.
DR.. James A. Ferguson, chairman of
the Board of Edueation's committee on
new buildings, said that contracts for
twenty schools could be let to each of
four contractors and that eighty
schools could be completed within
eight months.
That the dificulty in constructing
school buildings is attributable to this
cause was generally conceded by the
members Of the Board Of Estimate
In the absence of any opposition to
Mr.. Ryan's proposal, Mayor Hylan
urged him to 60 ahead with his plans
at once.