Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: [v. 96, no. 2484: Articles]: October 23, 1915

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REAL ESTATE AF/D %\ BUILDERS NEW YORK, OCTOBER 23, 1915 illlPlllllilllllllH^^^^^^^ I COURT HOUSE CONSTRUCTION URGED | The Carrying Charges to Date Would have Met the Cost of the Foundations—Adamson Report Answered in Detail ■illlllM^^ THE Court House Board has sent a communication to the Board of Es¬ timate and Apportionment asking im¬ mediate and final approval of the plans, specifications and contract for the new Court House. It calls attention to the delay since the plans were submitted on June 18, and shows that the carrying charges and other expenses occasioned have already amounted to $557,460, which "wasteage exceeds the cost of the construction of the foundations of the new building." The board transmits for the informa¬ tion of the Board of Estimate and Ap¬ portionment, certain reports made to the Court House Board by its advisors,— the consulting architect, Walter CoqJ<, the architect; Guy Lowell, the consult¬ ing engineer; E. P. Goodrich and the architect's consulting engineers, Daniel E. Moran, Clark, MacMullen and Riley and C. E. Knox. Criticism of the Adamson Report. One of these reports is in reply to the objections raised by the Director of the Bureau of Contract Supervision, Tilden Adamson, last summer. The board's ex¬ perts allege in great detail that Adam- son's report was "a confused mixture of mis-statements and erroneous conclu¬ sions, predicated upon rnis-interpreta- tions of the plans, specifications and con¬ tracts," that "most of the figures cited are not correct," that "his statitstical data has been misapplied," and that he has an "entire misunderstanding of the subject." The experts allege that nearly every statement in the report is erroneous, and that in fact the plan has no suggestion of the various extravagances charged. There is declared to be no luxurious clubs; the library is planned to contain 216,868 volumes instead of 2,000,000. No Luxuries for Judges and Lawyers. The space for employees is about one- half of that provided in the Municipal Building; no luxuries are provided for the jud.ges or the lawyers; there is only one auditorium instead of ten, as sug¬ gested; there is no palatial dining-room; there is no Bar or Buffet; the private robing room complained of is simply an office connected with each Court; there are no luxurious baths or fountains; there is no indication of elaborate dec¬ oration; there are no railroads in the building, and the business of the courts is increasing very greatly and not de¬ creasing as was charged. It is shown that almost every figure in his report is erroneous or miscalculated. The experts reproduce the plans sub¬ mitted by Adamson, so as to show "a large number of rooms in his plan to be either wholly or mostly in the dark and without natural ventilation," and state that "his scheme is an entire mutila¬ tion of the Court House design," and that "it is quite impossible to consider the scheme seriously." The experts state "In view of the many cases of misstatement and of false con¬ clusions contained in the director's re¬ port, we feel most puzzled to understand his attitude. In a great many cases it would seem to be that, not of a profes- GUY LOWELL, Architect of the New Court House. sional critic, but of a professional fault¬ finder; and in some, we cannot avoid the conclusion that it is one of hostility to the whole scheme, a hostility quite independent of any examination of the design." Accommodations Detailed. An additional report is transmitted containing comparisons in great detail of the court house accommodations with the previous plans for this building, with existing conditions and with other court houses in this country and Europe. These comparisons show that room sizes are very moderate, and that considering the necessary number of courtrooms, the accommodations, cubeage and cost are very economical. It is noted in the re¬ port that the cost of the site for the Royal Law Courts in London was $12,- 000.000, and that the building, which con¬ tains 19 courts, as against 56 courts in New York, cost $3,650,000. _ The report contains a history of the growth of law libraries in this country and in Europe, which shows that the larger of them considerably exceed 100,- 000 volumes at the present time, and have grown at the rate of 400 per cent, in the last 22 years, a percentage of growth which exceeds the growth of the New York Public Library in that period. It shows that the great courts in Europe and this country have very large law libraries connected with them which are increasing very ranidly in number of books. Estimates of Cost. A third report was submitted contain¬ ing the estimates of cost made in detail by the Quantity Survey Company and by the engineers, as follows: Building proper.............$7,814,132.54 Mechanical equipment...... 1,347,225.00 Elevator equipment......... 330,000.00 Total cost exclusive of furniture and fixtures.....$9,491,357.54' This cost of 41c. per cubic foot is shown to be comparable with the cost of the larger court houses in this coun¬ try. Cubical Contents Reduced. The Court House Board states that it has succeeded in having the cubical con¬ tents of the building reduced by 18 per cent, since the original plans were sub¬ mitted; but that at the same time, the usable room area in the building as com¬ pared with the total floor area has been increased by 20 per cent. It shows that the highest estimate of cost under the original competition plans of $14,000,000 has been brought down to $9,491,357.54, the detailed estimate of cost under the revised plans. The board agrees with the experts that "it would be unwise to reduce to any material degree the accommodations provided; that the use of certain rooms must be left to the future to determine and that any economy must be effected by a careful revision of the specifica¬ tions," which has been done. Attention is also called to the increased business of the courts and the large increase which will result from the revised Con¬ stitution. The board calls attention to the fact , that any delay, which will ensue, if the plans of the building are modified, will cause a wasteage because of carrying charges and expenses of over $2,000,000, and suggests that unless action is promptly taken these losses will con¬ tinue to accumulate, until the cost of the building, which must sooner or later be completed, will be twice as much as es¬ timated. Immediate Appropriations Asked. In a letter, addressed to Mayor Mitchel, and signed by the members of the Court House Board, it is urged that the city undertake the work as soon as possible and that appropriations for the entire cost of the work be made at once so as to enable a single, simple form of contract to be let, and the work completed within a reasonable time, for it is contended that by using this method a considerable saving will be effected. The board states that it has been greatly concerned to make every pos¬ sible revision in the plans and speci¬ fications in order that the building may be constructed in accordance with the general approved design at the least possible cost, consistant with the re¬ quirements of the courts, having in view the necessity of erecting a court house suitable for the needs of future genera¬ tions and a building of monumental dig¬ nity as demanded by the people of the city. Courts Inconvenienced. It is also pointed out that delay in proceeding with this work has caused great inconvenience to the courts and to the many thousands of citizens using them and that the delay involves the city in a very considerable loss, by the carrying charges of the site and by the failure to avail of low prices in the building market.