Repository: UIHistories Project: Book - 30 Year Master Plan (Tilton & O'Donnell) [PAGE 222]

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IX LETTERS PERTAINING TO THE McKINLEY HOSPITAL 1923 January 8, 1923 President David Kin/ey, JSS Administration Building

MY DEAR DR. KINTLEY:

I recommend that the McKinley Hospital be built in accordance with the sketches submitted herewith, and that it be located in the forestry facing Indiana Avenue, and one hundred feet back from Lincoln Avenue. I have prepared the sketches under instruction from the Board of Trustees and have conferred with Mr. Piatt about them. He approves the plan and considers the scheme for the exterior a good one. I have sent copies of these sketches to his office to have him study the exterior design of the building. The design of the first unit cannot be very well balanced because the center section must be large enough to dominate the design when the wings are extended both north and south. I recommend that I be instructed to prepare working drawings and specifications for the building in accordance with these sketches, and that Mr. Piatt be employed as Associate Architect; his commission for his service to be such portion of the standard 6% commission on the whole building as he shall be entitled to for the service which he renders. It is impossible to make any accurate estimate on the cost of this structure. There is a tendency to increase the wages of mechanics; the painters are asking for $1.00 per hour instead of the .85 they are now receiving; the plasterers % 1.50 per hour instead of $1.25; and carpenters charging from .90 to $1.10. I do not know what the building laborers will do, but they are now receiving .55 per hour. There is evidence that building will be quite a little more expensive this year than last, and that it will be difficult to secure the necessary materials. One of the largest manufacturers of veneered doors in the country has its factory output sold up to the first of next September. In making my estimate of the cost of the Hospital, I have allowed .50 per cubic foot for the building, exclusive of the furniture, and on that basis it will cost $125,000.00. In order to keep the cost within this limit, it may be necessary to use wood construction for the cornice and roof of the two story portions, but if we use a" plank for sheeting covered 2l6