A Palace of Education

A Palace of Education (See frontispiece in this number of the EraJ BY GEORGE M. MARSHALL, M. A., PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH, UNIVERSITY OF UTAH The new administration building of the University of Utah, now in the last stages of completion, is a notable addition to the too meagre architectural beauty of the city of Salt Lake. The situation of the structure, high on the east bench, is superb ; its shining whiteness against the green groves of Fort Douglas, and the red and brown and blue of the mountain ranges behind it, makes it conspicuous from all parts of the valley. Its windows look down upon the city, twenty-five miles across the plain to the Oquirrhs, and a hundred miles to distant ranges beyond the lake. About it as a center are grouped the other already numerous University buildings. The building is one of the finest specimens of the classical style in the West, and while far from the largest structure, or the most ornate, for pure beauty it is unsurpassed in Utah. It is rectangular in shape, four stories in height, nearly two hundred and fifty feet in length. From the middle projects a stately Greek portico supported by great pillars ; from this descends a cascade of granite steps. The slightly projecting wings at the ends are accentuated by pillars. The exterior, except for the white granite basement, is of white Sanpete sandstone, smooth finished. The severity of the soft whiteness is relieved by creamy tile capitals and friezes. The building is constructed chiefly of iron framework and reinforced concrete and tile. Little or no wood is used anywhere, and it is practically fireproof. The water pipes, steam pipes, gas pipes and electric wires enter a sub-basement through tunnels from the new power plant. Ducts for vacuum cleaningextend to every room. A freight elevator makes easy the transfer of heavy articles from floor to floor. The staircases at each end are partly shut off to enable persons to pass between any two stories without entering the main part of any other story. The floors throughout are of patterned tile, or of cement covered with noiseless cork. The doors of the principal entrance are of ponderous bronze, designed and cast in Salt Lake City. The most striking feature of the interior is the stately grand staircase leading from the main rotunda to the library and art galleries above. It is constructed of polished blue-veined marble, and resembles in a general way that of the Boston public library.

A PALACE OF EDUCATION 545 It is illumined at night by an enormous bronze electrolier. In the center of the main corridor the seal of the University has been worked in Mosaic. The cloak and toilet rooms in the basement are finished in white tile, with mahogany woodwork. Steel lockers will accommodate five hundred students. A commodious bookstore and postoffice communicate by a private staircase with the business office above. Storage and unpacking rooms and offices for the Reviezv, for the Chronicle, and for the Athletic and Alumni societies, and a few class rooms, have also been provided in the basement. The main floor has been arranged solely for the administrative offices — the president, the deans, the bursar, the registrar and the faculty — with parlors for students, and reception rooms. These rooms are elegantly furnished and decorated, the prevailing color schemes, as elsewhere in the building, being harmonizing tones of light brown, and gilt. The baseboards, panel frames and casing of the great hallway are of marble. The third floor is devoted entirely to the library. The stacks alone will hold one hundred thousand volumes. The great reading room is most striking and beautiful. It is enormous, and will give ample space for five hundred readers. It is lighted by tall windows of shaded glass, protected on the outside by bronze grills. At one end is a special room for magazines, and at the other are the office of the librarian and the cataloguer. A new and longneeded feature is a series of seminar rooms. The upper floor is divided between art and archaeology, although a few rooms for the present will be used for regular classes in other departments. The great art gallery is the only public gallery in the state. Its walls are spacious enough for hundreds of pictures of which the University is acquiring a valuable collection. The archaeological collection, one of the best in America, now piled in crowded cases in small rooms or packed in boxes, will be properly displayed. These rooms are lighted through skylights and bay windows at the rear. The convenience of new apartments fitted expressly for their several needs will give great comfort ; and the relief from the present intolerablv crowded conditions of the University, while far from complete, will vastly increase the efficiency of the institution. It is a matter of satisfaction, even if discouraging, that the University will be as crowded almost at once after the new building is occupied as it is now. With the high schools throughout the state rendering an army of young men and women eligible for college^ work, the registration at the University increases by bounds. It is this year nearly one thousand three hundred and seventy-five. The num-

546 IMPROVEMENT ERA ber of resident collegiate students is forty-three per cent greater than a year ago. In a state of the size of Utah these figures present a record which is remarkable. The opportunities in the University for study have widened with its growth. The state expects the graduates of its institutions of higher learning to be able to do their work in the world. The students of the University must therefore receive practical training, preparation for actual occupation. This is always a chief concern with those in authority. The School of Mines offers a variety of courses in engineering. The School of Education undertakes to prepare teachers for all departments of the public schools. The School of Medicine gives two years of a regular medical course, qualifying students for the work of the later years in any of the medical schools of the country. The Law School gives work leading to a degree, and like the Medical School, offers to young men and women the very practical advantage of doing a part or all of their professional work in the community in which they intend to practice. At no other time has business held out such rewards to men trained in power to think and to initiate, and supplied with a knowledge of the basic principles of business enterprise. Preparation for business, as here defined, the University undertakes to provide. Besides ability to do their work in the world, the state expects the graduates of its higher institutions of learning to be good citizens — to be able to live agreeably and helpfully with their neighbors, and to have a healthy interest in matters relating to the general welfare. This purpose, served by all the schools of the University, is specifically served by the School of Arts and Sciences, which is the oldest and largest of the schools of the University, and the center about which the others have grown up, and which, organize all the opportunities of the University to the end that the graduates shall render back in service, in the common good, the outlay which the state has made for their education.