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 FLOOR PLAN OF PROPOSED MUNICIPAL HALL 
 
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 ILLIKOIS 
 
 GROUND PLAN OF PROPOSED DOCK AND WAREHOUSE 
 
THE TOWN HALL OF THE NATION 
 
 WHY CHICAGO MUST HAVE A 
 MUNICIPAL AUDITORIUM 
 
 Chicago, though by Geographical Location 
 
 the Convention Center of the United States, 
 
 Loses Half its Advantage Through Lack of 
 
 a Suitable Convention Hall 
 
 An Appeal to the Mayor, the City Council and the Voters of 
 
 CHICAGO 
 
 WITH MAPS AND DRAWINGS 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE LOCAL DIVISION OF 
 
 THE CHICAGO ASSOCIATION OF COMMERCE 
 
 1914 
 
 Copyright 1914— The Chicago Association ot Commerce 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Chapter Page 
 
 Foreword 3 
 
 1. Need for, and Location of, A Municipal Auditorium 4 
 
 2. Lake Front Location Costs Nothing; Has Many Advantages 5 
 
 3. Transportation — Present and Futxire 7 
 
 4. Value of Conventions; Municipal Co-operation 9 
 
 5. The Town Hall— A Home for the "Home Folks" 12 
 
 6. Architectural Aspects 14 
 
 7. Engineering Phases 16 
 
 8. What Other Cities Offer 18 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Plate 
 
 1. Floor Plan of Proposed Municipal Hall. 
 
 2. Ground Plan of Proposed Dock and Warehouse. 
 
 3. Map Showing Business Center with Pier and Hall. 
 
 4. Elevation of Freight-Passenger Pier Showing Recreation Feature. 
 
 5. The Town Hall of the Nation. 
 
 6. View from' Southwest of Head House of Pier No. 2. 
 
 7. Floor Plan of Pier Head House and Recreation Space. 
 
 8. Engineer's Sketches. 
 
 9. The New Center as It Would Look. 
 
 10. Aeroplane View of Hall, Beach and Pier. 
 
 11. Driveway, Electric and Steam Connections. 
 
 [2] 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 THIS book, issued by the Local Division of the Chicago Association of Commerce, discusses 
 three propositions. 
 1. That Chicago has no adequate public meeting place. 
 2. That the municipality, not its citizens, should provide such a place. 
 
 3. That this municipal hall should stand on ground belonging to Outer Harbor District 
 No. 1. 
 
 As regards the first assertion it is believed everyone will agree. Chicago has many public 
 halls but all are inadequate for many purposes. 
 
 As regards the second assertion no serious opposition is expected. Great local, state, national 
 and international gatherings are under consideration. These are of vital importance. If they can 
 not be properly housed here on advantageous terms, they will go elsewhere. Only the city can meet 
 the situation. Private auditoriums built for profit must charge too high a rental. Auditoriums 
 built by members of commercial organizations, not for profit but as a public duty, sooner or later 
 fail. Only the municipality can build and maintain such an auditorium as will become the Town 
 Hall of the Nation. 
 
 Concerning the third point investigation will convince. As a first consideration it is to be 
 borne in mind that the site will be almost free of cost. Filled in as the location for a one- 
 story shed or dock for freight distribution, the superposing of this public hall will give beauty 
 and quadruple benefit to the people. Being on the lake front the place has many advantages. 
 Finally, it is close to the center of the city and capable of the best transportation facilities, 
 equally accessible from all sections. 
 
 The people of Chicago, it is believed, will look upon the construction of such a civic forum as 
 a step necessary to the growth and prestige of their city. In no other way can public money 
 bring a greater return to the pubUc. 
 
 Joseph H. Defrees, President 
 John F. Smulski, Vice President for Local Division 
 
 Fred L. Rossbach, Vice Chairman 
 Charles H. Hermann, Chairman Convention Hall Committee 
 Ernest L. Beifeld Harry J. Powers 
 
 D. F. Kelly Walter J. Raymer 
 William S. Kies A. F Shiverick 
 
 L. W. LANDMAN John D. Shoop 
 
 E. F. Meyer Henry C. Tilden 
 H. Paulman John Z. Vogelsang 
 
 [3] 
 
CHAPTER I 
 NEED FOR, AND LOCATION OF, A MUNICIPAi: AUDITORIUM 
 
 FOR years it has been apparent that Chicago has outgrown its public meeting places. The 
 Coliseum, the First Infantry Armory and the International Amphitheatre are all too small 
 to meet Chicago's requirements. Many large conventions requiring space for heavy 
 exhibits never come to Chicago. They cannot find accommodation. Others, such as the 
 automobile show, are spread through several buildings and lose their effectiveness and drawing 
 power. 
 
 The 330 conventions that did come to Chicago in 1913 brought 300,000 strangers who left 
 $9,500,000, exclusive of shopping and business expenditures. Beyond the direct cash profit, these 
 visitors, on returning home, spread the praises of Chicago. Almost every one became a commercial 
 fisset to the city. Had Chicago possessed a suitable assembly hall the number of visitors would 
 have been doubled and the amount of money left here would have been twice as large. 
 
 In addition to the national meetings lost to the city, among which may be numbered many 
 of the fraternal, religious and political conventions, local pubUc gatherings also have been 
 discouraged by the lack of adequate facilities. The public-spirited business man has found himself 
 confronted with expense and difficulty. To no place could he point as a forum set aside by public 
 decree for the public use of the citizens. 
 
 Harbor Work Offers Solution oj Problem 
 
 Up to the present time there has seemed to be no solution of the problem. Such a municipal 
 hall must be within walking distance of the city's business center. The value of real estate so 
 located has been prohibitive and nearly all individual holdings are too small. The construction 
 of Pier No. 2 has now provided a location which has all the advantages. 
 
 In bringing the lake shore at the foot of East Grand Avenue and East Illinois Street out to the 
 dock line, land has been filled in that is adapted to a double use. This land has cost the city Uttle 
 or nothing. It offers room for present needs and future growth. A municipal hall erected here 
 would face the approach to the freight, passenger and recreation pier now under construction. 
 With the pier and the new bathing beach it would form a great recreation and convention center. 
 When not in use by outside bodies, it would be in demand for the circus, the charity ball, 
 playground festivals, religious gatherings and Made-in-Chicago exhibitions. 
 
 Located just eight standard blocks from the intersection of State and Madison streets, 
 it would be within walking distance of all the principal hotels. The Grand Avenue surface line, 
 running from the outer end of the pier to the city limits at North Harlem (Seventy-second) 
 Avenue, would give direct transfer to every north and south line. Additional tracks laid on East 
 Illinois Street and elevated would bring in through cars from the South and West sides. For 
 automobiles, the Lake Shore Drive would reach the hall and the North and South Side Boulevard 
 link would cross within four blocks. Motor busses and the "L" are possibiUties of the immediate 
 future. Water transportation would also play its part. 
 
 Considered from every point of view the city has here a location that must satisfy the resi- 
 dents of every section of the city. 
 
 4] 
 
CHAPTER II 
 LAKE FRONT LOCATION COSTS NOTHING; ITS MANY ADVANTAGES 
 
 CHICAGO now has a chance to get that which the city builders long have desired. For 
 years the Association of Commerce and other public organizations have felt that Chicago 
 was losing advertising, money, prestige, through lack of a convention hall capable of accom- 
 modating those great political, industrial, fraternal and reUgious gatherings that bring men 
 and women from the remotest parts of the United States. Chicago, because of its geographical 
 situation, should be the convention center of the country. But some of the most important con- 
 ventions have never come. They could not be housed. And it seemed impossible to remedy the 
 situation. Real estate values were prohibitive and, moreover, street and alley intersections made 
 it impossible to get a tract large enough. 
 
 But now Outer Harbor District No. 1 offers a site that is desirable in every way, and that 
 will cost the city almost nothing. 
 
 Work is now well under way on Pier No. 2 for freight, passenger and recreation purposes. 
 For 3,500 feet this pier, a block wide, extends from the foot of East Grand Avenue and East 
 Illinois Street. A rectangle some 500 by 1,200 feet in size has been filled in with waste and sand. 
 While the made land is primarily intended for commercial purposes as well as freight and harbor 
 uses, the upper elevation of any structure to be erected upon the south portion of the made land 
 would not interfere with the city's present plan. It is proposed to build above the enclosed dock 
 to be constructed on this land a great municipal hall for local and general use, its front facing the 
 pier plaza at East Illinois Street and its south elevation rising from the river. 
 
 No Question as to Need of Public Hall 
 
 As to the need of a great public hall there can be no question. The minimum space required 
 for the commercial exhibits of some pf these conventions is 150,000 square feet. Thirty thousand 
 seats should be available. The Coliseum on South Wabash Avenue has but 60,000 square feet of 
 main floor exhibition space. The First Regiment Armory offers but 23,000 square feet. The Inter- 
 national Amphitheatre at the Union Stock Yards, though larger (75,000 square feet), does not 
 meet the requirements. 
 
 Fifty million persons live within a night's ride of Chicago. • Convention delegates can reach 
 this city in the least average traveling time. The average railway cost per delegate is less than 
 to any other city. Exhibits shipped take less time in transit and do not have to be rehandled. 
 Freight and transfer charges average less than in other cities. All trains run to, not through 
 Chicago. Departing trains, therefore, are never late and return exhibits never delayed. 
 
 With all these advantages Chicago, in 1913, though entertaining 330 conventions, obtained 
 only half the delegates that would have come had there been satisfactory facilities. Among con- 
 ventions which cannot be housed, or at least successfully cared for, under present conditions, may 
 be mentioned the Master Car Builders' Association, the American Electric Railway Association, 
 The American Foundrymen's Association, the American Highway Association, the American Road 
 Builders' Association, The National Automobile Association, the National Canners' Association, the 
 National Railway Appliance Association, the Cement Show, the Clay Products Show, the Dairy 
 Show, and all the large fraternal. Grand Army, Saengerbund and national political conventions. 
 
 [5] 
 
Advantages of Location 
 
 In the first place there is space enough to provide for 60,000 seats and 350,000 square feet 
 of floor — far more than will be required. 
 
 The lake front location will give Chicago a chance to exploit to the utmost its dehghtful 
 summer climate. Chicago winters are milder than those of other cities east of the Rockies and 
 north of Tennessee. But summer is the great excursion and convention season. It is Chicago, the 
 Summer Resort, that is to be made a household phrase of the nation. 
 
 The great lakeside hall — the water touching it on the north, the east, the south, and the 
 southwest — will be filled for months with strangers from lands afar and parched. As the dele- 
 gate leans back in his chair the lake breeze fans his cheek. He wonders whether it is 100 degrees 
 in the shade at home. Through the wide south windows he looks upon the picturesque life 
 of the river. He could almost toss his cigar upon the deck of the big freighter that is slipping by. 
 Beyond spreads the blue water of the yacht harbor, dotted with white sails, the Lydonia at anchor, 
 and near her the cruiser of the Naval Reserve. Still further beyond rises the impressive facade 
 of Michigan Boulevard. From Grant Park across the harbor, the new Field Museum faces him. 
 
 Music Blends with Oratory 
 
 Lakeward the sparkling waters bid defiance to dust and heat. Strains of music, perhaps, drift 
 in from afar on the recreation pier. Close at hand a steamer sounds her warning blast. Handker- 
 chiefs wave, the water under her stern bursts into foam, and she is under way. 
 
 If the delegate tires of convention discourse he may wander out upon the plaza. Again, the 
 lake. This time it is the laughter of bathers that calls him. Lake Shore Drive sweeps away from 
 the plaza toward Lincoln Park. Bordering it will be a strip of parkway, and 1,100 feet of bathing 
 beach to extend the present small municipal plant at the foot of East Ohio Street. Wearying of 
 the bathers, the delegate may stroll along the pier — passengers come trooping back and forth, 
 fishermen invite the sophisticated perch. Further out, two-thirds mile from shore, he comes upon 
 the musicians of the band and a bit of real Atlantic City life. 
 
 Could anything be a better advertisement of Chicago, the Summer Convention City? 
 
 In winter there would be fewer outsiders, but the great hall would not be empty. With the 
 first cold day, the municipal auditorium would take in the outdoor life of Grant Park — athletic 
 meets, playground festivals and the like. For weeks the circus that now finds the Coliseum too 
 small would draw its thousands. The whole year round this civic center would hum with events 
 political, social, philanthropical, whimsical, fraternal, religious and industrial. 
 
 Today this corner is unknown. Tomorrow, it will be known of all, a part of the great center 
 of city life. 
 
 Plate i 
 
 RECREATION FEATURE OF FREIGHT- PASSENGER PIER 
 
 [6] 
 
CHAPTER III 
 TRANSPORTATION — PRESENT AND FUTURE 
 
 ACCESSIBILITY is above all other things important. If this recreation and convention 
 center is to fulfill the purposes for which it is designed it must be easy to reach and easy 
 to leave. 
 
 Those who are not familiar with this part of the town will be surprised to learn that 
 the foot of East Illinois Street is but a fifteen minute walk from the heart of the shopping district. 
 To convince the reader that the recreation pier and the proposed convention hall would be within 
 easy walking distance it is only necessary to give a few figures. The door of the new hall would 
 be just eight standard blocks, as the bird flies, from the intersection of State and Madison streets; 
 the Coliseum on South Wabash Avenue is a full mile and a half. From the convention hall and 
 the pier to the Art Institute, at East Adams Street, would be only ten blocks. To the Columbia 
 Yacht Club, across water, would be but a short half mile, and to Clark Street bridge but a quarter 
 mile further. Lincoln Parkway, soon to be extended by the North and South Side Boulevard link, 
 passes within four blocks of the proposed site, and the North Side group of hotels is as close. In 
 no other city of the world, perhaps, could a site for such a municipal gathering place be obtained 
 free within so short a distance and so conveniently accessible to all of Chicago's important 
 shopping centers and its manufacturing and industrial districts. 
 
 Important in the matter of transportation is the automobile. At present only the private 
 motor and the taxicab are to be considered. But the motor bus will soon be here. In no long time 
 "Pier-Convention" busses would be in operation. Passengers from the steamers which are to dock 
 at the pier could be distributed to the hotels. Returning, a two or three minute spin down 
 Michigan Boulevard and across the splendid driveway bridge would land the delegate or the 
 out-going traveller at the door of the municipal auditorium. 
 
 Lake Shore Drive Expands into Plaza 
 
 From the north the approach would be equally good. Lake Shore Drive, swinging out around 
 one-time Streeterville with its skyscraper apartment buildings, is to expand into a plaza before the 
 pier. Nothing better could be asked for the fleet of automobiles that would sweep down upon the 
 convention building on such ah occasion as the charity ball. 
 
 Turning to the surface car situation we find that the East Grand Avenue line leading from the 
 great West Side reaches the lake front where pier construction is now under way. Tracks are to 
 be extended down the 3,500 foot pier with loops midway and at the end. Leonard A. Busby, 
 president of the surface lines, hopes for a maximum capacity on Grand Avenue of 15,000 persons 
 an hour. Whereas Wabash Avenue cars are often filled before they reach the Coliseum, Grand 
 Avenue cars would reach the pier and convention hall crowds empty. East Grand Avenue, aside 
 from factory hour rush, has little local business. The line as at present in operation, gives 
 through service directly west and northwest from the lake front to the city limits at North Harlem 
 (Seventy-second) Avenue, crossing every north and south line in Chicago. 
 
 If this municipal hall for the city's great gatherings is located in the harbor tract there is no 
 question but that several surface lines will be laid through. The Chicago Avenue Une, it was 
 proposed some time ago, should be extended east to Fairbank Court and thence south onto 
 the Grand Avenue tracks two blocks from the lake front. This is now under consideration by 
 the council. 
 
 [7] 
 
East Illinois Street Available 
 
 Of the other streets in this district East lUinois appears to be the most available. Sections of 
 East Ontario and Ohio are at present in boulevard use, though much of this traffic will cease when 
 the North and South Side Boulevard link is cut through. East Kinzie and East Austin are barred 
 by railway tracks. 
 
 On East Illinois, however, the only difficulty lies in the two blocks of switch track which occupy 
 the south half of the street at the Pugh terminal warehouse. While there is room on the surface it 
 would probably be better to elevate this section for the reason that all tracks, according to plan, 
 will enter the pier on the upper level. Three-quarters of a mile of track construction would. connect 
 the amusement and convention center with the La Salle tunnel tracks on Illinois Street. Future 
 developments may make other streets available for transportation facilities to the convention hall. 
 
 The East Illinois Street line would double the service to the pier and convention hall and could 
 be made to give direct through transportation to the South and West sides. The unified opera- 
 tion ordinance was passed to do away with looping and switching back cars in the business center. 
 Carrying out this policy, one or more of the Wabash Avenue lines, for instance, which loop at the 
 public library, might be carried through to the lake front north of the river. Moreover it would 
 be possible, especially on occasions of importance such as the Knights Templar conclave, to run 
 "Convention Specials" through the downtown district. 
 
 In its report of February 7, 1912, the Harbor and Subway Commission of the City of Chicago 
 suggests still another method of transportation — an elevated moving sidewalk. This sidewalk, 
 as proposed, would run from Franklin Street to the passenger and recreation pier, using the alley 
 between Illinois Street and Grand Avenue. It would connect with the "L" and the Clark and 
 State Street lines and would have, it is estimated, a capacity of 30,000 persons an hour. 
 
 Water traffic is also to be considered. With all passenger steamers discharging at the passenger, 
 freight and recreation pier, excursionists and delegates would be landed within a step of the 
 convention hall. This traffic is large, summer being the convention season and the lake voyage 
 appealing to the holiday spirit in which most of the delegates leave home. 
 
 Ferry Service Would Become Important 
 
 Another feature is the ferry service. This would be of particular interest to the man from the 
 inland town or city. The water gate of the municipal auditorium would be just across the river 
 from the present landing of the Lincoln Park boats. These would undoubtedly put in a limited pier- 
 convention service with their present equipment. But new steel steamers would be available, such 
 as are used in Detroit for the Belle Isle crowds. These vessels carrying between 3,000 and 5,000 
 passengers make a five cent fare possible. Landings could be arranged up the river at convenient 
 points and on the lake front at the foot of East Monroe and East Van Buren street^. Such steamers, 
 allowed ten minutes in passage, could transfer from 10,000 to 30,000 persons between the landings 
 and the hall in from ten to thirty minutes. 
 
 As the great need of Chicago is for a hall large enough to accommodate conventions that bring 
 extensive exhibits, freight facilities must be considered. Here it would appear that the lake front 
 location is ideal. Tracks of the Northwestern Railway now reach the proposed site and the Illinois 
 Tunnel bore, under the terminal warehouse, would have to be extended only 300 feet. 
 
 No engineering difficulty would be met in any of the proposed extensions. The hall would 
 stand on the second level to correspond with the pier. Freight tracks would run underneath, making 
 possible delivery of exhibits direct from car to elevator. Exhibition and demonstration cars could 
 be switched to the foot of the main floor stairway. 
 
 [8] 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 VALUE OF CONVENTIONS; MUNICIPAL CO-OPERATION 
 
 THAT Conventions pay is unquestioned. Competition among American cities proves this. 
 Sixteen important centers already have municipal or semi-public auditoriums. These 
 cities are in better position to meet their own requirements than Chicago. They can offer 
 at a noininal rental halls seating from 10,000 to 30,000 persons and providing from 50,000 
 to 150,000 square feet of floor space for exhibits. They are fighting to take conventions frorn 
 Chicago, the geographical convention center. 
 
 Buffalo, Denver, Rochester, Milwaukee and Philadelphia have municipal auditoriums. Atlanta, 
 Atlantic City, Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas City, Minneapolis, New Orleans, New York, Omaha, 
 Pittsburgh, St. Louis and St. Paul have privately owned buildings which are under control of 
 commercial organizations and can be offered to conventions on attractive terms. A number of 
 smaller cities also have facilities which, in proportion to their population, far surpass the best that 
 Chicago can command. 
 
 The most obvious value of conventions is in the money delegates bring to the city. The 330 
 conventions held in Chicago in 1913, it is estimated by the Association of Commerce, brought here ' 
 for personal expenditures albne, $9,500,000 of new money. Detroit figures that its conventions of 
 a twelvemonth are worth $8,000,000. The Louisville Convention & Publicity League announces 
 that visitors brought by the 135 conventions of last year spent $3,500,000 there, exclusive of railway 
 charges. Boston, though it entertained but 100 gatherings with an average attendance of only 200, 
 is credited by its Chamber of Commerce with a cash profit of nearly $2,000,000. Seattle, in its 
 campaign for 1915, estimates that if only the Elks, Shriners and American Bankers are secured, local 
 business will profit to the extent of $10,000,000. 
 
 Advertising Most Important 
 
 "But this expenditure,", to quote Frank L. McVey in The Making of a Town, "is by no means 
 the sole argument for a convention policy. It is estimated that 18,000 conventions are held in the 
 United States in a single year. To these meetings men from all walks of life come, giving the cities 
 in which the conventions are assembled an opportunity to impress their important advantages upon 
 the visitors. Ten years ago, so the story goes, three brothers from Iowa attended a convention in 
 Detroit. Impressed with that city they visited it again and finally removed their plant there. These 
 were the Packards and the pioneers in the automobile business in Detroit." 
 
 Among the profits that accrue to the convention city is the personal meeting between manu- 
 facturers and jobbers and the outside retail merchants. Visiting business men from all over Chicago 
 trade territory are brought here to see Chicago business men at their very best. Departing, they 
 leave orders which often develop into permanent connections. 
 
 The advertising value is unquestioned. Men and women come from all parts of the United 
 States, many of them, doubtless, expecting to grope their way about in an impenetrable cloud of 
 smoke. Returning, they tell the neighbors at home quite a different story. "The money a con- 
 vention visitor leaves in the city," says the St. Paul Press, "is only a part of the benefits derived. 
 Every man, woman and child who comes to St. Paul for a few days' visit, has a good time and goes 
 away pleased, is a permanent advertisement and asset to the city." 
 
 [9] 
 
City Gains New Residents 
 
 As a result of this advertising the city benefits by a constant accretion of new residents and 
 new businesses. The country is full of persons who are dissatisfied with their present locations. 
 Either it is the climate, or social and educational conditions, or perhaps the local business field seems 
 narrow and unpromising. Such persons, coming to the city as delegates, are likely to be favorably 
 impressed. Many of them take up their homes here later; some bringing valuable business 
 enterprises. 
 
 The following table shows the Chicago convention record for the last eight years: 
 
 1906 201 conventions 165,000 delegates 
 
 1907 254 conventions 275,000 delegates 
 
 1908 270 conventions 350,000 delegates 
 
 1909 245 conventions 200,000 delegates 
 
 1910 305 conventions 390,000 delegates 
 
 1911 310 conventions 244,000 delegates 
 
 1912 : 323 conventions 300,000 delegates 
 
 1913 330 conventions 300,000 delegates 
 
 It is estimated by the Association of Commerce that the average convention visitor spends 
 on himself $8.00 a day and is here four days. This would mean that the 300,000 visitors for 1913 
 left Chicago a total of $9,500,000 and that the 2,224,000 attracted here since 1906 have been worth 
 $71,168,000. But the $8 a day covers only personal expenditures. It includes no part of the 
 millions left with the merchants of the city. Neither does it take account of the millions left with 
 the manufacturers and wholesalers fbr goods that would never have been ordered but for the 
 convention visit. 
 
 The local Division of the Chicago Association of Commerce maintains a convention bureau 
 whose efforts during the past eight years have resulted in the building of a large convention business 
 for the city of Chicago. This convention business, very large in the aggregate, would have been 
 much greater but for the handicap of Chicago's lack of a convention hall suitable for the handling 
 of certain gatherings requiring as much space under one roof as will be provided when the proposed 
 Town Hall of the Nation is erected. 
 
 Los Angeles Made by Conventions 
 
 "Cities generally recognize that conventions pay," says the Fresno, California, Republican 
 editorially. "Los Angeles was in its early development largely made by conventions. San Fran- 
 cisco is now engaged in strenuous efforts to bring conventions to that city, both to advertise the prog- 
 ress of the exposition and to swell the 1915 crowds. So important are conventions to a city's pros- 
 perity that Chicago, through its Association of Commerce, has developed to a science the method of 
 obtaining and entertaining conventions." 
 
 Excellent as have been the Chicago results of the past eight years they could have been twice as 
 profitable had the city been able to offer adequate facilities. As it is now some of the largest and most 
 profitable conventions do not come here at all. Of some of these it is estimated that the average 
 excursionist spends $20.00 a day and would be in the city for a week. Each of these huge gatherings 
 brings with it five or ten smaller affiliated meetings. In fact, according to the best figures, had the 
 city been possessed of a hall capable of accommodating all delegates and exhibits, well located and 
 obtainable on an attractive basis, the 1913 total of 330 conventions would have been raised to 500, 
 the number of visitors would have been, not 300,000, but 500,000, and the total of money spent here 
 would have advanced from $9,500,000 to $15,000,000. 
 
 [10] 
 
i;^,^^:^ J-'=^j 
 
 THE TOWN 
 

 ^m. "» 
 
 THE NATION 
 
City Already Co-operating. 
 
 There is nothing revolutionary in the proposal that the city shall build the new convention and 
 recreation hall. The city, in fact, has for several years been taking a growing interest in convention 
 work. Mayor Harrison began this co-operation in October, 1911. At that time he agreed to furnish 
 from the legal department of the city a representative to deliver at all gatherings an address of welcome 
 in behalf of the municipality. This policy, unusual in large cities, has been continued with success. 
 In 1913 the mayor began a system of supplementary personal invitations by letter or telegraph. 
 Organizations were assured that the city desired to entertain them. The effect has been noticeable. 
 As the next step, in making out the 1914 budget, there was included, at the suggestion of John F. 
 Smulski, vice-president and head of the Local Division, an item of $5,000, "to be used at the dis- 
 cretion of the Mayor to assist the Chicago Association of Commerce in inducing conventions to come 
 to Chicago." 
 
 The next move, logically, would be the erection of a municipal convention hall. If Buffalo, 
 Denver, Rochester, Milwaukee and Philadelphia can issue bonds and build municipal halls for the 
 accommodation of local, national and international gatherings, so can Chicago. If these cities can 
 build auditoriums capable of seating from 15,000 to 30,000 persons and of furnishing from 60,000 to 
 150,000 square feet of main floor space for exhibits, Chicago can do better. For in Buffalo, Denver, 
 Rochester, Milwaukee and Philadelphia it was necessary to buy high-priced real estate in order to 
 provide a convention hall. In Chicago, as a result of another municipal enterprise already under 
 way, the city has a site answering every requisite and obtainable practically without cost. 
 
 [11] 
 
CHAPTER V 
 THE TOWN HALL— A HOME FOR THE "HOME FOLKS" 
 
 THE time has now come to discuss the part this municipal auditorium would play in the home 
 life of the city. In the villages of today the town celebration, the town mass meeting, is still 
 a fact. The people come together to join in pleasure, to raise a voice in protest or approval 
 of the public policy. But in the cities, Chicago in particular, this voice has been lost. The 
 people no longer meet. A country of Europe from a multitude of principalities, has grown into a 
 mighty nation. Chicago, reversing the process, has grown from a mighty city into a multitude of 
 principalities — broken groups held together by small ties of race, creed and local interest but lacking 
 cohesion, public spirit, civic pride. 
 
 This tendency has been regretted by men of foresight. They have realized that with a loss of 
 the all-Chicago feeling, the sense of city citizenship, would come a loss of civic strength. These men 
 have tried to meet the issue. With military tournaments and similar spectacles they have sought 
 to make of Grant Park a sort of village common. The municipal Christmas tree of a year ago was a 
 notable experiment of the kind. 
 
 That such efforts are being made is important. But they have had to contend, not only with 
 the inertia of a people long estranged from central gatherings, but with the fact that the city had no 
 public home, no accepted and accustomed great hall for its citizens. If Chicago is to be held together 
 there must be this town hall, this wigwam, this place of the people. The men of Chicago must be 
 led to say: "The day's work is done. Let us away to the public place to learn what the city does." 
 
 Chicago lacks a great autumnal festival. New Orleans, St. Louis, Kansas City and Omaha have 
 pageants that draw their multitudes. Devised as advertising, their influence has been great. What 
 Chicagoan who has gazed upon the Mardi Gras, the Veiled Prophets, the Priests of Pallas, who has 
 mingled with the thousands in Omaha to watch the myriad incandescents of the Ak Sar Ben pageant, 
 but has wished his home city could boast such another fiesta of commerce? With a great town hall 
 in which to welcome some monarch of the make-believe, Chicago could double its annual army of 
 visitors, could provide for its own people a week of carnival, of city-wide co-operation in fun. 
 
 Memorial Day the only Celebration 
 
 The one public celebration of Chicago at present is the Memorial day parade. That the people 
 welcome it is shown by their outpouring. But even this day fails of its promise. The parade over, 
 there is no great hall in which Chicago may gather to profit by the patriotic lesson of the memorial. 
 
 Similarly, the great hall would make possible a celebration of July 4th. The old noisy, day is 
 gone; nothing has come; in its place. But the day should not pass in stupid emptiness. Around the 
 civic center on the lake front, the public hall, the bathing beach, the recreation pier, with their music, 
 dancing and fireworks on the water, would come a revival of the spirit of '76. 
 
 The municipal Christmas tree in the park was a daring idea but it gambled much on the gods of ■ 
 storm. Better, within the great hall of the people to raise a great tree for the people. In conjunction 
 with the city, the good fellow organizations could bring their Christmas cheer. The workers who 
 provide Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners for the poor would be on hand. Unhampered by cramped 
 quarters, undeterred by the expense, everyone could join in providing a Christmas that would make 
 Chicago nation-known as a city of cheer. 
 
 [12] 
 
On other holidays the story would be the same. The labor day crowd would find its home. 
 Colimibus, landing from his caravals, would lead his thousands within, safe from the hazard of wind 
 and rain. 
 
 With the reawakening of the people, the reassertion of the all-Chicago spirit, would come a series 
 of notable contests. Here city championships would be fought out before a roaring multitude. The 
 national guard would compete for city honors, the public schools in oratory and in athletics. Social 
 and fraternal organizations would meet and vie as never before. The circus, the charity ball, the 
 playground festival, the track meet and the made-in-Chicago exhibition have already been men- 
 tioned. When Grant Park lay bound in sleet and snow the great hall would resound with indoor 
 baseball, football, polo, automobile polo, ice and roller skating and a horse show that would be a 
 show of horses, not of gowns. 
 
 Grand Opera for the People 
 
 In European cities grand opera and the orchestral symphony are brought to the people almost 
 at the cost of a "movie" show. In Chicago, also, with the great town hall seating its 30,000, this 
 would become a possibility. Great artists would bring music into the lives of the people. 
 
 Similarly, the public would be given access to the great thoughts of great men. At present only 
 the fortunate few hear these orators, these men with a message. 
 
 On the moral and religious side the great hall would lead to development. No longer would 
 the mission pageant, the charity bazaar, the evangelistic revival be hampered by lack of space and 
 added costs. 
 
 On the political and civic side the great hall would also play a part. There is today no suitable 
 place where the governors may meet the governed, where the political parties may come together 
 to discuss, not partizan politics, but the public good. 
 
 In the town hall the foreign born would gain new understanding of the American ideal. Not 
 long ago an effort was made in Chicago to give dignity to the ceremony of naturalization. The newly 
 enfranchised were brought together to receive the hand of fellowship. They were made to feel that 
 they had done a worthy and important thing in rising to citizenship in the nation. The effort was a 
 success but it lacked the significance that would have attached had the ceremony called its new citizens 
 together in the city's own great hall. With this hall ready to receive them, it may well be that Chicago 
 shall create a new holiday — Citizenship Day — in which the new Americans of a twelve-month may be 
 made to feel that the rite of citizenship is the splendid thing they dreamed it in the old days when they 
 were far from the land of the free. 
 
 lotm 
 
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 un.sriis p\ijCNt;ER dcicmn-i, iP^ft 
 
 «W.-.i-.-.3Cgr^:-jgfc^r 
 
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 FLOOR PLAN OF PIER HEAD HOUSE AND RECREATION SPACE 
 
 [13] 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 ARCHITECTURAL ASPECTS 
 
 THE Convention Hall, as tentatively planned, would consist of a great, high hall on the main 
 floor, sufficiently raised above the Plaza or Place to give enough height for railway access 
 to the enclosed dock and warehouse space beneath. These in part could be used for 
 railway exposition rooms. The hall would be preceded by a vestibule portion and sur- 
 roimded on the other sides by corridors from which would lead numerous exits and stairs to the 
 balconies and the galleries. 
 
 The proposed hall itself would be 116 feet high, 508 feet long and 296 feet wide with an arched 
 trussed roof. It would be lighted from the sides and top. It would contain a main balcony over 
 the ground vestibule, side balconies and galleries. 
 
 The entire north front of the building on the Plaza or Place would be occupied by a grand ves- 
 tibule 272 feet long, 64 feet wide and 50 feet high. At its ends would be important stairs to the bal- 
 conies and in it would be placed monumental descents leading to the lower vestibule. There would 
 be ample toilet facilities on each floor. 
 
 At the south end, advantage would be taken of the extended view over the river and harbor 
 looking, toward the city, in providing an open colonnaded porch along the entire south front flanked 
 at each side by stairway towers. These would lead to the terrace above where could be located a 
 restaurant, and down to the shores of the lake. 
 
 At the highest point of the building, reached from the stairway towers at the south end, would 
 be an observation and search light platform for the enjoyment of the view as well as for the flashing 
 of political and other results by search light and wireless. This south front, with its imposing archi- 
 tecture in plain sight from the city harbor, would offer unexampled opportunity for the electric adver- 
 tising of whatever attractions might be offered.. 
 
 There would be a walk entirely around the building attractively treated with appropriate trees, 
 shrubs, balustrades and steps, and in front a formal balustraded plaza approach from the Place by 
 a flight of steps, decorated with flags and a large symbolic statue. By these means the hall would 
 take its place as a harmonious part of a greater composition which would include the Place, the 
 Pier and the extension of the Lake Shore Drive. 
 
 For Conventions 
 
 The speaker's platform would be at the center of the semi-circular south end, around and in 
 front of which would be grouped the invited guests, delegates and alternates, all on the main floor. 
 The remaining space in the building, balconies, galleries, etc., would be for the general public. Numer- 
 ous committee rooms would surround the hall under the balconies. The grand north vestibule and 
 surrounding corridors would provide ample space for informal conversation and discussion. The 
 seating capacity, including delegates and alternates, would be sufficient for 31,641 persons. 
 
 For Other Great Shows 
 
 The main floor would be largely occupied with display booths containing all sorts of exhibits. 
 At the south end might be placed a raised stage for pageants, entertainments or. other attractions 
 and under which would lead the ramped descent to the ground floor. Here would be grouped all 
 the exhibits of a heavy or bulky kind such as locomotives, cars and other weighty appliances. Such 
 
 [14] 
 
The recreation end will contain a restaurant and a dance hall with a capacity of 4,000 seats. 
 The rest of the area will be used for concourse with a portion roofed over to protect the people from 
 the weather. 
 
 The C. & N. W. R. R. tracks will be extended from their present terminal, the east end of the 
 Pugh Warehouse, out on the roadway as far as the recreation end. It is intended to put four tracks 
 in this roadway. 
 
 The Chicago Tunnel is now under the Pugh Warehouse and can be carried out to the pier if 
 desired. 
 
 It is believed that all the lake transportation companies, as well as the smaller boats running 
 to Lincoln Park, South Park, etc., will use this pier when completed. 
 
 Chairman Harbor and Subway Commission. 
 
 TT^mm M ' — ^ 
 
 SECTian A A 
 
 Lake MicHTGAN 
 
 OHIO STREET 
 
 •Sotmdlngaloleanflxmt U.<S.Chfr^ of i3/f. 
 
 
 BRAND AVEfOtE 
 
 OGDBN BLIP 
 
 US.NoArtiJ^jfj^ 
 
 Traded From 
 Survey of The Northern and Northweotern Lakes 
 
 U.B.LiJ» Burviey. CatolofrM WbJSI. 
 
 -^ -V 
 
 General Plan. 
 
 Scale: 300 Feet- I inoh. 
 
 X 
 
 Plate 8 
 
 CHICAGO fUVER 
 
 Harbor and Subway Qdmmission 
 City of Dmicaqo. 
 
 Proposed Extension of Lake Shofse Drive 
 
 and of Ohio Street. 
 
 WITH Approach to Rer No.S, Harbor Qstriot NqI. 
 
 fV^ 
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 ,5SipAntber/St4. 
 
 [17] 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 WHAT OTHER CITIES OFFER 
 
 COMPETITION, sooner or later, will force Chicago to build a municipal hall. The city must 
 rise to its opportunities and responsibilities. It must have a great meeting place for great 
 meetings. Otherwise, those cities that are equipping themselves to entertain these national 
 and international conventions will take from Chicago much that it now has. 
 There are, of course, facilities that do fairly well for the present. The International Amphi- 
 theatre offers 75,000 square feet of space, the Coliseum has 60,000 square feet on the main floor and 
 the First Infantry armory, 23,000. The new Medinah temple seats 4,500, and has, in addition, 
 30,000 square feet of exhibition space. The Auditorium seats 4,000 and Orchestra Hall 2,500. Other 
 theatres are to be had and the larger hotels offer their guests without charge rooms seating from 
 fifty to more than 1,000. 
 
 But it is the future that must be considered. Chicago is adding nothing to its facilities — other 
 cities are. Among the larger cities, as stated before, Buffalo, Denver, Rochester, Milwaukee and 
 Philadelphia already have auditoriums publicly owned. Of smaller cities, such as Oakland, California, 
 many are equally well prepared. Other important cities, the hst including Atlanta, Atlantic City, 
 Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas City, Louisville, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Omaha, Pitts- 
 burgh, St.. Louis and St. Paul have auditoriums which, though not publicly owned, are under control 
 of commercial organizations and can be tendered on attractive terms. The following list shows just 
 what these cities offer. 
 
 Denver 
 
 Denver's municipal auditorium is located in the heart of the city and is reached by all car lines. 
 It has cost the municipality $655,000, bonds being voted in May, 1904. The building is 266 by 175 
 feet in size, the arena covering 200 by 116 feet. The convention hall seats 12,000 and the theatre, 
 3,300 more. The usual rental is $200 a night for the theatre and $400 for the entire house, but no 
 charge is made for conventions. The auditorium is fireproof and offers a total floor space of 70,000 
 square feet. 
 
 Milwaukee 
 
 Milwaukee has a model convention hall, the Auditorium, managed as a public utihty under com- 
 bined public and private auspices. To erect the building the city voted a bond issue of $250,000 and 
 by public subscription a similar amount was raised. The municipality and the Auditorium Com- 
 pany, a separate corporation, are each half owners. The building is 330 feet long by 300 feet wide 
 The total floor space is 263,376 square feet. Of this, 172,061 square feet are in the main auditorium 
 and 91,316 in the annex. The Auditorium has a seating capacity of 10,000 and the annex an aggre-. 
 gate capacity of 5,700. The building was dedicated September 21, 1909. 
 
 Omaha 
 
 Omaha has an auditorium which seats 5,000 on the main floor and 2,000 in the balcony. An 
 arena 86 by 200 feet in size is provided. There is a very large stage. The building belongs to a pri- 
 vate stock company and is rented to conventions at from $100 to $200 a night, according to the number 
 of nights required. 
 
 Portland 
 
 Portland, Oregon, several years ago voted $500,000 for a municipal convention hall. Construc- 
 tion work was held back, however, by the unsatisfactory state of the market for municipal bonds. 
 The campaign for a city owned auditorium was managed by the East Side Business Men's Club. 
 
 [18] 
 
Detroit 
 
 Detroit at present has several halls of medium size. Various civic organizations, however, are 
 working on plans for a very large auditorium to be built and operated by them jointly. This hall, 
 when finished, will be under control of the Detroit Convention Bureau and will probably have 150,000 
 square feet of floor space for seats and exhibits. The largest halls now offered are in the Cadillac 
 and Pontchartrain hotels, the former seating 700 and the latter having 18,000 square feet of space. 
 These are free to guests. 
 
 Buffalo 
 
 Buffalo has a municipally owned convention hall for which no charge is made. It has a large 
 seating capacity. There is also Elmwood Music Hall, sometimes secured by conventions at a rental 
 of $100 a day and seating 2,600. Broadway Auditorium, for which a charge of $200 a day is made, 
 seats 6,000. The Buffalo Auditorium has a floor area of 80,000 square feet. 
 
 Cleveland 
 
 Cleveland has just completed a convention hall which, though privately owned, is under control 
 of the Chamber of Commerce. Final decision has not been made as to charges but these are likely 
 to be nominal. The floor space equals 80,000 square feet. Central Armory has a seating capacity 
 of 5,000 and Gray's Armory of 2,200. 
 
 Dallas 
 
 Dallas, in the coliseum at the state fair grounds, has a steel and concrete auditorium seating 
 7,500 persons. The building is 150 by 250 feet in size. The fair grounds, which have an area of 137 
 acres, are in the city limits and reached by several trolley lines. The twelve buildings have a total 
 floor space of 305,600 square feet. 
 
 Philadelphia 
 
 Philadelphia's municipal auditorium plans called for an expenditure of $4,000,000, the greatest 
 outlay approved by any American city for this purpose. The site selected for the public gathering 
 place was in Fairmount Park. The auditorium is the largest and most expensive public improvement 
 projected since the erection of the city hall. The plans admitted of a floor space of 100,000 square 
 feet. 
 
 St. Louis 
 
 St. Louis has a convention hall, centrally located, called the Coliseum. It is controlled by a 
 stock company. The seating capacity is between 10,000 and 12,000. Convention charges are not 
 high. The floor space is given as 70,000 square feet. 
 
 St. Paul 
 
 St. Paul, through an arrangement with the convention bureau, is able to furnish its auditorium 
 to conventions either free or at a nominal figure. The auditorium has a floor space of 60,000 square 
 feet. The city government is not financially interested in the structure. 
 
 Atlantic City 
 
 Atlantic City, with Young's million dollar steel pier, offers a convention floor capable of accom- 
 modating the largest gatherings and the most cumbersome exhibits. The pier has a floor space of 
 about 150,000 square feet and while it is not municipally owned, it is tendered to conventions at a 
 nominal rental by the Atlantic City Convention Bureau through the co-operation of the board- 
 walk hotels. 
 
 San Francisco 
 
 San Francisco is erecting a convention building in its civic center. The city gave the site and 
 the Panama-Pacific Exposition has set aside $1,065,000 for the structure, which is to be of a per- 
 manent character. The plan contemplates an auditorium to seat 10,000 and ten smaller halls, seating 
 between 400 and 1,200 persons each. All the halls will be furnished to societies and conventions free 
 of charge. 
 
 Rochester 
 
 Rochester provides free of charge to all visiting organizations the municipal convention hall, 
 which seats 4,500 and has a large new annex for exhibits and committee meetings. Conventions can 
 also secure the Exposition Park Auditorium which has a capacity of 1,500. In addition to these the 
 Rochester Chamber of Commerce has control of and furnishes free three buildings with a total floor 
 space of 112,000 square feet, which are adapted for working exhibits that call for the use of machinery. 
 
 [19] 
 
New York City 
 
 New York offers for convention use eighteen well known halls and theatres with an aggregate 
 seating capacity of 50,647. None of these are large, however, Madison Square Garden, the most 
 important, seating only 12,137. There are also more than 100 other halls, seating from 500 to 1,500 
 each. Of the larger auditoriums, the Academy of Music, Carnegie Hall, Lexington Opera House, 
 Manhattan Opera House and the Metropolitan Opera House, each seats 3,000 more or less, the Grand 
 Central Palace will accommodate 5,000 and the Hippodrome 6,500. Several hotels have assembly 
 rooms seating 2,000. There is, however, no municipal auditorium. 
 
 Oakland 
 
 Oakland, California, has shown more perception of the value of conventions than many large 
 cities by putting up a municipal convention hall with a seating capacity of 10,000 and 60,000 square 
 feet of floor space for exhibits. The upper floor also furnishes 15,000 square feet for a permanent 
 museum of California products. The building is fireproof and covers 200 by 400 feet of ground. 
 Bonds, of $500,000 were voted in 1910 but the cost of erection has been much more than that. 
 
 Louisville 
 
 Louisville offers conventions, through its Convention and Publicity League, the Armory, which 
 can seat 10,000. 
 
 Minneapolis -.,....^^__ 
 
 Minneapolis has a privately owned auditorium, control of which rests in the Orchestral Associa- 
 tion. The hall seats 2,500 and is furnished to conventions at a nominal fee. In addition to this 
 building the old Tenth Street Methodist Episcopal Church, seating 1,000, is also frequently used. 
 The orchestral building is reported to have 50,000 square feet of floor space.J 
 
 New Orleans 
 
 New Orleans has a convention hall seating 2,000 but it is privately owned and a charge of $150 
 a day is made for convention use. It is called the Athenaeum and belongs to the Young Men's Hebrew 
 Association. A smaller hall, the property of the Progressive Union, is furnished to conventions free 
 of charge but it has a capacity of only 600. The Athenaeum has a floor space of 50,000 square feet. 
 
 Indianapolis 
 
 Indianapolis at present has a small municipal auditorium called Tomlinson Hall which is furnished 
 free to conventions secured by the Chamber of Commerce. A plan under discussion, however, con- 
 templates the erection of a new municipal hall to cost $500,000. An effort is being made to bring 
 together for this work the Commercial Club, Board of Trade, Indianapolis Trade Association, Merch- 
 ants Association, Manufacturers Association, Indianapolis Real Estate Board and Indianapolis Live 
 Stock Exchange. The building is to seat more than 10,000. 
 
 Kansas City 
 
 Kansas City has a large convention hall, privately owned, in the heart of the business district. 
 A nominal charge is made for conventions. The building was erected by business men as a public 
 enterprise. The hall seats 1,500 persons. Total floor space amounts to 60,000 square feet. 
 
 Atlanta 
 
 Atlanta has a convention hall with main floor space of about 40,000 square feet. An annex and 
 basement give an additional 20,000 square feet. The hall is within three blocks of the heart of the 
 city. The hall is under control of the Atlanta Convention Bureau which either offers it free for con- 
 ventions or makes a nominal charge. 
 
 Pittsburgh 
 
 Pittsburgh claims for its Exposition Hall the second largest main floor exhibition space to be 
 found in any building in the United States. It is larger than Madison Square Garden. The city 
 also offers to conventions the use of Soldiers Memorial Hall, costinjg $1,650,000 and seating 2,500, 
 and Duquesne Gardens, the latter being used by horse shows, automobile shows and similar expositions. 
 
 Los Angeles 
 
 Los Angeles has two large convention halls, the Shrine Auditorium, seating 10,000, and the 
 Temple Auditorium, which can accommodate 5,000. These are privately owned but are available 
 for convention use on advantageous terms. 
 
 [20] 
 
exhibits could easily be transported to and from the building by means of railway connections 
 at the west end of the north vestibule. For these shows the balconies and galleries would accom- 
 modate the general public to a seating capacity of 18,476 persons. 
 
 For Transfer and Storage of Freight 
 
 The Convention Hall will in no way interfere with the development of an adequate transfer and 
 storage warehouse on the ground level. The free passage of trains from East Illinois street to the pro- 
 jected freight pier No. 1 is indicated in the ground floor plan. In the warehouse itself two spurs 
 have been taken from this line for cars loading and unloading. Great platform areas are accessible 
 both to these cars and to the backing in spaces provided on the sides of the building for teams. Sufifi- 
 cient driveway has been left between the building and the water to permit free communication for 
 teams to East Illinois street or to East Grand avenue. 
 
 In the formation of this large and well arranged warehouse easy and safe access for the thousands 
 who will use the Convention Hall has been retained. At the front there is the grand vestibule on the 
 Place with its great stairways and on the side exits located at proper intervals. 
 
 An idea of the building is given in the following paragraphs: 
 
 Extreme dimensions of hall, 624 by 384 feet. 
 
 Actual area, 196,991 square feet. 
 
 Height of building, first floor, 16 feet above Place. 
 
 Extreme height, 142 feet above Place. 
 
 Seating capacity of main floor, 8,807. 
 
 Removable seats, 4,356. 
 
 Balcony, 12,398. 
 
 Gallery, 6,080. 
 
 Total, 31,641. 
 
 Cubic contents of building from a point 6 feet below the Place would be 22,860,412 cubic feet. 
 
 Area of freight storage space, excluding areas occupied by tracks, backing in space and com- 
 munications from above, 117,280 square feet. 
 
 The following estimate of income and outgo for the Town Hall shows that the proposed improve- 
 ment would not be a liability of the tax payers but would pay its own way, and could even be made to 
 produce a profit if desired. The figures are as follows: 
 
 RECEIPTS 
 
 26 weeks rental ($750 per day, 6 days) at $4,500. 
 
 13 weeks free (for installing and removing) 
 
 13 weeks for City uses 
 
 Privileges and*small hall rentals .... 
 
 
 $117,000 
 75,000 
 
 
 $50,000 
 
 30,000 
 
 25,000 
 
 10,000 
 
 5,000 
 
 
 TOTAL RECEIPTS 
 
 $192,000 
 
 DISBURSEMENTS 
 
 Interest, $1,250,000 at 4% ... . 
 
 Operation and Management 
 
 Water, Light, Heat and Power 
 
 Maintenance and Repairs 
 
 General expenses 
 
 $120,000 
 
 
 
 BALANCE .. . 
 
 . $72,000 
 
 [15] 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 ENGINEERING PHASES 
 
 BY E. C. SHANKLAND 
 CHAIRMAN HARBOR AND SUBWAY COMMISSION 
 
 NO engineering difficulties will interfere with the construction of the pier or the convention 
 hall. The present transportation facilities can be increased without unusual trouble or 
 expense. The Grand Avenue line, capable of carrying a minimum of 15,000 persons an 
 hour, already reaches the harbor tract. All that -VYill be necessary to bring the cars onto 
 the second level of the pier and in front of the convention hall will be to construct perhaps 100 feet 
 of elevated way. The steel and concrete platforms of the pier on which the cars are to run out 2,340 
 feet, are designed to support the heaviest surface cars or elevated trains. 
 
 There is also no difficulty to be encountered in bringing a second line to the pier, probably on 
 East Illinois Street. The tracks might have to be elevated for two blocks but no difficult engineer- 
 ing problem would be involved. The steam tracks have a right of way direct to the pier and hall. 
 A moving sidewalk from the North side "L" to the pier and hall has been proposed. It could be 
 built down the alley between Illinois Street and Grand Avenue at a moderate cost. 
 
 The freight connections would involve very little expenditure. The Chicago & Northwestern 
 tracks now reach the lake front and the addition of a few rails would bring them to the freight elevators 
 of the hall. Four tracks will also be laid out along the roadway of the pier to the outer end of the 
 freight platforms. The Pugh terminal branch of the Illinois Tunnel Company bore reaches at present 
 to within 300 feet of the site and could be extended at a moderate cost. 
 
 The hall itself would stand on filled land but the foundations will present no difficulty of con- 
 struction. 
 
 Pier No. 2 in Harbor District No. 1 is 3,000 feet long and 292 feet wide. It consists of two freight 
 deck floors each 100 feet wide and 2,340 feet long, made of reinforced concrete and paved with wood 
 blocks. They are supported on concrete foundations resting on timber piles filled in between with 
 earth. Between these floors is an 80 foot roadway paved with granite blocks. The roadway is 3>^ 
 feet below the freight deck floors to allow wagons to back up. 
 
 On the outside of each freight deck floor is a concrete dock 5 feet wide resting on timber piles, 
 cut ofif below datum and filled in between with rock. 
 
 Over each freight deck is another story, the passenger deck. This is a fireproof structure 66 
 feet wide with a concrete roof resting on steel arches. On each side of each of the buildings is a rein- 
 forced concrete and steel platform 16 feet wide. The platforms adjoin the roadway and will carry 
 the street cars out on the pier. 
 
 These passenger decks are 22 feet above the water, and passengers coming in on the cars can 
 go directly to the boats from this floor without having to go down to the freight floor below, thus 
 leaving the latter entirely free to take care of the freight. 
 
 On the waterway side there will be a board walk supported on top of the steel arches. This walk 
 will be 43 feet above the water and will be 16 feet wide and nearly a mile long. 
 
 The whole eastern end of the pier 660 feet long will be used for recreation purposes. 
 
 It is intended that the boats carrying passengers only, such as the "Columbus" and "Roosevelt," 
 will land at the recreation end, while boats carrying both freight and passengers will land at the docks 
 adjoining the freight and passenger buildings. 
 
 [16] 
 
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