HomeMy WebLinkAbout2795 Report of the Building Committee of the New Primary School Building [the Munroe School], no date but presumed 1904 v
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To the Citi.zexis of Lexington :
The evolutiox, of the school building in the last
forty years is a notabl e. indication. of genera] progress.
They modern schoolhouse is more than, a cella.r, four walls ,a roof,
a few. bee ches ,a blackboard and a big stove:. . It is much more elab-
orate arid . cost12r. A community nay r;ot,a.s in old time s ,follow its
own notions of construction but must comply with state laws cc ncern-
o,g ver:tilati on :hea.ting., sari ita.r:r conve:n:iences , fire stops,etc . .
Ever, the kind of laths for the ce.iliY,g and of flues for bleating
axid ventilating is prescribed by the State Building Inspectors {
Aepnrtrnent . They are wise regillatftens of course brit, comp- i.ance
acid's to cost . Again,modern .artistic taste dema,ids some degree of
architectural beauty acid a harmony of iiiiterior finish. This also
requires skill that must be paid for.
Your bui3dirtg Committee: agreed iri the deterr�iriat ton to pro-
vide the best buildi:x g possible for the appropriation, to employ
Lexir.gto�ri labor, r to l uy material of Lexington dealers whe7ie ver
Oossible acid to� limit the cost to 627,000 .
The second article of the specification reads : "Preference,
will be given by the Ccnrt nit.tee to Lexington sub-coritra.ctors and
labor acid xio si�bcontra.cts are to be awarded without the: e.l,,proval
of the ror,unittee .
hi all our d:isctissions as to expenditure the limit of the axle--
propriati oij was remembered ,rievertheless ,in carving out our desire
for a first class building.and favorable loca,tion ,we were compelled
to expend a little more money. The committee were beseiged at
first by people here artcl elsewhere who had labor or Yliix, ,erial to
sell . We could get, every thing neode d "From turret to fc� ;r dati car.
store."but i_o one offered the once thing i,ecessa.ry at first,,a suit-
able birild ing lot . Those who owr.ed eligible property,within the
j nrescribed terri.torywoi4ld riot se] l or only at -a prohibitive price .
'The guest-ions"VThere are -you going to locate the new building? "
"Have you secured a lot Bret?"bega.n to be erabarrassixjg. We hoped
that. some public spirited c tizer: would donate the: 3ard or sell
at a. nomirja.l price... We were cOmost discouraged, as time was getting
shorn ai d were ready to call a special meeting to get authority to
take; -arid by l e fail process when Mr.Heiiry W.Lewis , of the committee ,
brought the gr-a,tefO news that he had induced Mr.acid Mrs.R .J .Harr;s
to favor the towli by selling a desirable lot . "If you do not at
first succee,,d , tnr, tr r agai.rf`. was evidently the motto followed by
Mr .Lewis . He succeeded ixi bivrixig where others had failed .
Mr.Wil ]a.rd O .Rrown,Architect ,of Lexi.iigton was among those who
had submitted desi.g2is arjd Mr.Brown's plans,after some medifica.tions,
were accepted . He ,tried to please the town in his careful and core
tixtuous supervision of the work and his efforts were satisfactory
jj to a.l l concerried . The wisdom of appointing Mr.Fraricis W-Deax, a
menber of the building committee was obvious at this tirie as his
]uiowl edge of contractors., the building trade and material was of
advantage to the t ovni
j Mr.E.W.Pitman,of Lawrerice,11rass .was the lowest bidder ard ,as
investi.gat_lon proved his respoxisibil it<< and his ability to do
V-1a work irj the short time al l owed ,your committee signed a con-,
tract with. him June 2,I904, for �I7,290 .
2.
The subcontractors we:re ,a.s we ii teiided ;I,exiiigton men .
Mr.Ba.rtl et t F .HarriEiigton , of Lexington ;did , the excavatiiig amid
stoiie work:Mr.P .F .Dace y, of Lexingtoi, ,did the brick and con-
crete: work axid p3 as.tering:Mr.Edward S .Gree3ey, of Lexington;was
the painter:Forest Hooper €c Co. ,of LexirigtOI17did the p�lt�:�ibiii; :
The Lexington Hardware Co .furn shed ' the material needed in
their l ine: T he Lexington Geis c-- Electric Co .did the wiring and
furnished material :From Tue Leaxingtoil Lumber Co .Mr.Pitman
bought the -luiriber :Mr.P .J .Dai] ey, of Lexingtoii,did the filling.
and grad iiig and all the workmen excerpting three employed by
Mr.Pitman were reside=.iits of . this locality . Mr.George. VT.Samp-
ce
son, of Le..xirgton , furnished contractor's build ai,d the zr:sura ,
?'olicies aid �1r..A.P .%-Ii]xiei, of. I�exir�gtori ,was our surveyor.
The new building is of. Lexington handiwork and design . This is
proper as Lexington children: are to enjoy its comf. orts, the
People of the town are to take pride ii- its ile;at appearance and j
Lex igton taxpayers are to pate the bil is . We have provided
ev .r;rthiiig needed
furniture of, the best �7i.iality .As we; viere,
not discharged to date ,we have receiitly bought soma things that
expearici:ce showed to be desirable or needful durii,g the time
that the schoolhouse has bee.ii occupied . We know that at the
presei.t timyou have a building coinl,lete in every particular.
There is no ')schoolhouse anywhere that is better iii 1ra.ctical
€ ;a7,ti7,ilit;� to its heeds . Veiltila.ta.oi , sE;iiita.tjoii , lightirig
w-,d hea.ti.rig; are al 7 excel ] eiit .' The bui?d ing is waraiied very
t;C�)i"tnTilc l ]�r , This is dire iio le, s to the coilsciei:tious care
of the ja.iIltor,I�Tr.,)ehI1is Coll ins , than to the very effective
acid satisfactory hea.tiiig plant installed by the Fuller a.iid
Warren Po .of Boston . The state saIrs that ,for each pupil , there
must be availa.be thirty cubic feet of fresh air every miiiute .
The indirect radiation ai,d gravity system is applied in heat-
ing the schoolroo-me, Fresh air is co2itii-iva] ]y goi.iig; up from
outside to the rooms ,being heated oil its way by contact with,
the warm furnaces . Air thus heated enters the room about eight
feet above the fl'oor#,.ai,d diffuses graduall-r . As it becomes
cool er,g;ra.vi.ty ca.l;ses it to descend acid,, as it becomes vitiated
�� � res�?irati�n it continues to the floor whence it escapes
through a flue iii which there is a little steam coil to rarify
it aild send it u } and out . Iiigelii�usly arranged va.ives regu-
late the rapidity of this air currei:t and the teachers and
janitor have it within easy control ] . The corridors teachers
room,emergency room ai,d basemeiit play roams are heated by steam
through steam pipes and , ordinary radiators . The price paid to
Mrs. Ai;nip T .!-Ti'orri s f or 30, 000 fe(.t of 7 and was 3000 .
E W.Pitmails bill -,in'7ftJJ was I�32,£i3 . 65.
Of this amount 57993. 65 .was for .extra work
clone b the contractor aiid subcontractors .
W.Fitman paid I;Tr..Oacej� $3402 .3F .
ff it ft Mr.Farr iilgt or, , 2650 .
ft it Mt . Greel ey 737.01 .
Committee paid Nlr .Greeley for extra work, 45 . 75 .
PaidP .J . -)ai3e��,fc�r grading 120,0_.�__�_---
2 2 5-Zg,
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AO
Amount brought forward ,, Q22529 .40 .
Paid George W.Sampson ,Premiuris 250.
It
Forest Hooper :�cCo . , 962. -
Lexing t on' Hat. dwa:re Co . , 345 .80 .
" George C7.Reed,Legal services , II . 65 .
" A.P.Milne,S'urveybig, 23 .
" Fuller &Trarren Co .Heatiiig Plai t , - I8,62 .---
" Lexir'gton Gas °: FJectric Co . I22 . 75 .
It
J'.R.Craig,R) ectric Fixtures..
Various Persoi s ,Furii ture , 639 . 60 .
" " i,ghingale & Childs ,Asbestos Applying same 97 .96,
f' 17illa..rd A..R.rownArchitect-, II43.. 72
"Plac Wire: Fence, 6
" Lega.l Advic , I0 .
()F9 , 88
Total cost of Land,Buildiijg a.iid Furiiisnixlg, f 2806c� . 8 ,
The extra amount is more than offset by items not in the basis
of the original appropriation .. These are increased cost of
grad iiig, two rear doors not in-cluded in first pl an s , increased cost
of land .,,�300. , the use of ash in place of hard p,ii>e in inside
finis A?25 . , the. cost of copper gutters over galvanized iron
$100. , the wrapping of steam pipes in a.sbe stos , P7 . 96 . ;ar, iteri
which wi) l pay for itself iii a very few years in saved fuel ,
We have gained one i-additiona.l roor1 for sicki ess or emergency .
Some other extra costs were due to the hurry necessary by l im-
ited time for building . Tie entire, work was dori.e in seventy-
four work .rg days . The - ci.tizeiis will consider also that the,
ii,surance premiums on four policies of $5000. each: has been
paid for most of the year I905 . The building is slate roofed .
We have inserted Chamberl iii metal weather strips making extra.
windows unnecessary, The under floors are lined with two layers
of tarred paper. The upper floors are of maple 7/8 by 2 rj/2 .
Good heavy rosiin sized sheathing paper is used under the c1ap-
boards and the: walls are backp_l altered .
While regretting the extra expenditure ,we ' are convinced that
in no possible way coulat the tovni get so good a building for
less money . We have expc7_c'ed much time ,helt' many meetings for= .
anal azjd informal as well as numerous conferences by telex}hole .
We have done our work with only one object : the best interests
of the town whose servants we were and we respectfully submit
this repert ,ask your accerta.nce of the building. aild request
that the committee be discharged .
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