The Sidney herald., 1961-07-19

mark the official opening of the
Unemployment Com e nsataon
Commission Building at the corner
of Roberts and Jockey Streets in
Helena.
UCC Chairman Edgar H. Reeder
said the public is invited to guided
tours of the new State building
between $50 and 11:30 a. m.
on those two days. John E. Gross
of Denver, Regional Director of
the Bureau of Employment Sec
unity, will make an official in
spection of the building and its
operation in the company of the
Governor, Donald G.. Nutter, on
Wednesday, Reeder said.
The start of the new building
began in January, 1858, when the
commission and the state board of
examiners approved preliminary
planning, Reeder reported. The
1859 legislature voted its approval
and selected the building site. Gov.
J. Hugo AronSon signed this legis-
lation on March 7, 1859. After %
months of negotiations and steady
work on financing and design ar
engagements, construction of the
new building began late in No
vember, 1859. Twenty months of
almost uninterrupted construction
brought the building to full COM
pletion. Evans and Lamont, arch
fleets of Billings, designed the
building. The Helena firms of A
and B construction compaynny,
Palmquist Electric, and Reber
Plumbing held The main construc-
ton contracts.
The four-story structure with
full basement made full use of
Montana materials wherever pos
Sible, Reeder said. Included were
2 copper, aluminium, wood products,
: transmit partitions, and Montana
< t~revertine in the main lobby to
carry out the Montana theme. The
e building is unique in that it has
l., The largest clear-span steel Struc-
Is tural floor in the nation with nc
supporting columns inside the
w walls of the building. Another
Il LtIONdIlO1l ID UlC OOld1 O(IS1l WILL
covers the south side of the build
ing. Enameled metal vertica
louVres move with the sun allow
ing the light to enter but defect
ing the heat away from the in
terror of the building. Ut is eSti-
mated that this addition to the
building will cut air conditioning
costs by 80 percent, Reeder said
The attractive lobby is enchanc.
ed by a 6H foot high high mutt
colored mosaic tile mural created
and installed by artist Robert c
Morrison of Billings. 1t depicts
miner, a carpenter, and a farme,
with tools of their trades fronting
a background of industrial sym
bols of the State. A quotation from
Lincoln: GAS 1 would not be
slave, so 1 would not be a master,
gives it title and meaning.
The building will house fror
100 to 125 of the Commission
personnel depending upon seasons
variauces in work loads. 1t con
tains the most advanced an
practical International Bushes
Machines equipment, automati
machines, and filing systems
permit economical and efficier
operating procedures, Reeder SaiS
The building is financed 10
$50 percent by federal funds, Reede
emphasized. Not n cent Ws
taken from the states general fun
or from the unemployment inSul
ance taxes paid by Montana en-
ployers. Unemployment inSuranC
taxes can be used only for til
payment of unemployment Der
efits. The entire construction co
will be liquidated by paymen
from the federal government c
a rental amortization basis wit
the title to the building being he.
by the State. The amortizatiC
plan will run approximately
years, Reeder said.
In the beginning, when I'll
number of Commission personn
was small, and before the mar
phases of its work ere develope
the Commission was crowded
limited quarters in dowtoV
Helena. The first location was
the corner of Main and EdWar
Streets in the old Montana Natiol
al Bank Building. This buildil
burned in 1914 destroying MAI
of the Commissions records. t.
Commission then moved to
temporary location at the corn
of Lawrence and Fuller. In 1916,
move was made to the first flo
of the ElkS Building and oper
tions continued there until Oct
Der 1850 when the first flo
quarters in the newly complet
Sam w. Mitchell building we
obtained.
From the time of the 2s
Legislative Assembly which ere
ed the Unemployment Compes
ton Commission in 1887 until .
present day, varied industr
have become more and more I
major factor IN shaping Montan
economic fortunes. There has be
a general exodus from the far
and rural communities duri
these past years. At the same til
the industrial complex becal
~ more diversified and complicat