PHETTY WEODINB SERVIGTIS HELD CHEERING THUG : Ii ...

Rl l nilfclff ArTll/ITIFt
Universit y of Illinois, Which, When
Complete, Will Represent Out lay
of $700,000. Building in
Residential District.
Under the guidance of a Commercial
club that believes in doing things 1
Urbana within the past few years, and i
especially within the past year, has
made remarkable.- progress. - One has ,
only to reflect for a moment on the ,
achievements of this city in order to ;
realize that 1912 is to mark an epoch
in its history. This year's building
boom is without precedent when one
takes into consideration the new University
buildings and the preliminary
work on structures to go up next
year. The Commercial club must "be
given credit for much of this improvement,
for it is behind the business
prosperity that makes building possible.
The record of 1912 is the result of
a gradual awakening, having its beginning
about twelve years ago, when i
enterprising citizens began to talk of
a building to efface the unsightly bog
at the apex between Main and Railroad
streets.. The present Flat Iron
building is the result. It required several
years to get the structure started,
but the Commercial club furnished
the inspiration and public spirited
citizens the cash. Thus Urbana shook
off the lethargy which had retarded
her development for years, and had
since forged ahead commercially, by
leaps and bounds. The Illinois Theatre
followed and other buildings
sprang up in mushroom fashion.
A Retrospective View.
Reflect a minute on what has been
done in commercial building, say, in
tlie past ten years. People who lived
here then do not require very vivid
imaginations to remember hoy the
business district looked.
The site of the Flat Iron building, as
stated in the foregoing, was a swamp.
Unsightly Boneyard branch marred
the view where G. W. Lawrence's
store now stands, the building having
been erected- over the creek.
A frame building stood on the site
of the Illinois, theatre.
The Cohen building, Race and Mail
street, was an antiquated structure
with the postoffice in the ' cornei
room.
A tumbled-down tenement nous*
marked the site of the present post
office building.
Low frame houses stood .where th<
Webber-Burrss building and the J. D
Green building now stand.
The building at . the southwest coi
»" of Main and Race streets th<
lower floor of which is occupied b:
Busey's bank, was old-fashioned am
unsightly when compared with th
beautiful remodeled structure tha
marks the site today.
f The K. of P. building and the Fte<
man building had the appearacne c
ante-bellum structures until remode
63 within the past ten years.
Tfce site of the Urbana Auto Co.
garage was a vacant lot littered wit
debris until it had thje appearance <
a dump yard.
The Kirby garage occupies spa<
that ten years ago was a -wilderness <
brambles with, a deserted fram hous
almost fallen to decay, In the cente
11 Race street,
tho brick g&raga on North Market replacing
the frame building destroyed
by fire last spring, tho Urbana Auto
Co.'s garage on North Uaco street, the
addition to tho Loavitt aMnufaeturiug
Co.s plant, addition to Hunter, Rourko
& Co.'s planing mill, Eugene Mailing's
implement house on Water
street, T. K. Lindseys building on Elm
street, and John 'Merchant's shoe store '
on Main street. K. \V. Sampson is razing
his frame building on North Race
street preparatory lo erecting an attractive
brick structure.
Public buildings contemplated, severa
l of which will go up within the
next year, are: High school building,
to bo erected on $5,000 site near foot
of Market street,, in estimated cost of
§120,000, The plans are * now being
revised to reduce iho cost they culled
for originally, to tho sum stated above.
New Elks' Building.
For some time the Urbana Elks'
odge has talked o( building u home,
ind while the step seems nil her renote
at nresnt , there Is reason to believe
that a stock company will be
formed with a view of building, at no
illstnnt date. It may 'oe a lew years.
Lint the lodge is rapidly outgrowing
its present i.unrlers and many members
see a good investment besides
other advantages in an Elks' building.
Oldham Bros." drug store, Race and
Kim streets. The Oldham brothers
have talked of remodeling their store
building, but have made no definite
tiImiik
Government building and poslolllco I
it Elm .aril Market streetii, whir-h s111>
tas teen purchased , av 1 tor which intirovenioiit
an appropriation hrt s been
mule.
Carnegie library on West I'.isb
or •'•or. between Race and Broad. Lot
las lun purchased wl all but about
J600 3f $2,500 deficit on "purchase price
nan l-eon raised by enbs^ ' itlon. 12ctl.Avmep.'
fund and tax sufficient for
The Illinois Motor Car Sales Co. upkeep, as required to secure j'.!0,00:V
•ar.ed a delapidated livery stable to l>j 'd ug fund.
make room for its large brick garage. Red Men's building. Site not select-
Ten years ago the old foundry, once
the Urbana -light plant, had depreciated
unti l it almost could be classed as
a, nuisance. The Leavitt Manufacturing
Co. took hold of it and the present
magnificent plant and . extensive
mechanical enterprise, tells the rest
of the story.
Bert Busey obliterated back door
scenes in the husiness district when
he built on Elm street, ust around the
corner from Race.
The building at the northwest corner
of Main and Market streets,
known as the Russell block, has been
completely remodeled within the time
stated.
The Shuck building, northwest, corner
of Main and Race, would not be
recognized by a person remembering
it as it was even four years ago.
brambles with a deserted frame house
The Manning Implement building
on Water street, the biggest storage ^^^ ¦^^^^ ^ CHAMPAIGN COUNTY COURT HOUSE, URBANA, ILLINOIS.
house in Urbana, occupies the site of •¦¦!. but probabl
same old tumbled down shack.
y will be erected i": j
West Main street. I
All these changes have been made Big Four depot, which officials as-
since 1902, and it is to be noted that,
sure the Commercial club will be
in nearly every instance, the improve-
erected next year, if possible.
ment obliterated an eye-sore.
New Wabash depot, .which Commer-
In citing the above cial club intends to have if there is a
Cti :l( f«
In Residence District.
The building boom m /.he Urbana
residence distiiet this year is uu
equaled by any since WVi.
The outlay for homes in thig city
since last spring runs up to about '
?200,000. The Van Doren addition Is
; responsible for a good share of these
improvements, although there has
been marked activity in the building
line in nearly all parts of the city.
This review demonstrates that Urbana
is forging to the front. With the
Kankakee-Urbana interurban line coming
into this city, opportunities which
the city has never enoyed, will be presented.
It has never been denied that
Urbana has been seriously handicapped
by lack of railway facilities to
put her in touch with the people
northward. With the barrier removed,
that which made. progress for Champaign
easy, will be ours for the asking.
' , improvements,
mention was not made of those erected
within past year it being desired
to reserve space tor separate mention
of building during the banner year.
Building at University.
The last biennial appropriation for
building and equipment at the University
of Illinois was approximately
$700,000, and all of the more important
buildings, with the exception of
an $80,000 stock pavilion, the contract
1 for which will be let soon, are under
; way. The addition to the Woman's
building and the Commerce building,
' each costing,. $125,000, are nearing
completion. The Transportation
1 building, costing $90,000, the ceramics
! and mining building, $22,000, and the
r locomotive laboratory. $22,000, are going
up on Mathews avenue on resi-
5 dence sites acquired by the Universi-
' ty. The total appropriation for the
Transportation department is $200,000,
- including the amount paid for the site
'• and $50,000 for equipment.
The foundation for the new armory
'" ¦ on the south campus is now under construction
and, with favorable weattiy
i er, steel construction work will start
a January 1. The armory is to cost
e $100,000.
1 ! A $25,000 green house is to be startfed
and $25,000 additional to be es-
J- ' pended for class work in that depart-
•f ment. Another improvement at the
1-! University is a barn on the dairy farm
erected within the past year at a cost
•s of $10,000. Magnificent Lincoln Hall ,
h although started over two years ago,
>f was completed In 1912, and may be in
' eluded in the list.
, e J
Urbana Buildings.
af Buildings erected and remodeled it
e the Urbana district within the past
T ' ————— BARREN WASTE CONVERTED ^
t
INTO BEAUTY SPOT. t
ten years include the Shaffer flats or.
,
t:
People Said Crystal Lako Was a Ruin j
After Dredge Boat Had Passed,
But Commission Proved Other- t
wise—Two Other Parks. |
1
Urbana's Park system is the pride .
of the city and incidentally of tho ;<
whole county. When the city decided .
to buy Crystal Lake Park nearly five (
years a bo it consisted of little more |
than a touting place for vagrants and \
a fnv pond which wan dteiiltlod hv ,
the term lake. Oucg upon a ii :., j j
when tho drainage wp.s not so > • ¦ *:«¦ j ,
plete and there was n strip of I' m * ¦¦¦
fyr miles along tho Suit Pork , ' ; .. ,.
Lake may have been of iw , Jet-ably
larger dimensions, li nt I' uruig the
last few yoavs previous t Us beiUR
taken over hy the Park Commission,
it was scarcely doop hiourIi for hoat-
Iiik iu summer time und none too inviting
for skating in winter tmo.
Tho first work of the enmmt»Biou
was (o ongri fr? n droilpi boat to deepen
the channel , effec t a permanent
drain for it und convert the bog into
a sanitary, picturesque and practical
body of water for boating, skat!ug,itnd
ultimately bathing. In order to do
this it' was . necessary to change tbe . o
channel of the old stream, to remove ¦ v
branch and root a few largo trees ii |
which were in tho way and to ,creatO | t
at each end of tho new channel an f?
island which will soon be the mecci^ s
of picnic dinner parties-. \ v
Remodeling the Scenery. j
When the dredgo boat left the t
scene, the park "wan about. a» inviting c
as the court house Is while the decor- ¦ ;
ators have charge of It. Few except j
the commissioners could see the beau- j
ty of the completed plan and many |
skeptical residents deplored the effort ]
to produce a park we should be .
proud of. The commissioners work- i
ed on, and In spite of the fact that
they receive nothing for their pains, j
some of them spent more time on the |
job than they did on their personal
business, and in a year a metamor- j
phosis developed, which surprised the :
most skeptical. New roads were
made, new path s wereI built, under- 1
brush was removed ,a beautiful drive j
was created between the new chan- j
nel and the overhanging cliff, and the j
Cunningham tract which had been j
more a matter of conjecture than
fact) was added to the tract !
| Later, in order to complete their ,
plans the commissioners arranged .;
with the fair association to add a strip j
, to the west side of their tract, and in k'hich was laid thoro a, year a»?o hn&
aken root and the bog which contained
nothing but weeds and mini
ias been developed into an inviting
BEAUTY SPOTS
ikuuc. ground. In addition to this, tlw
icw conort»tt> and steel bruise had
i>eon
placed across the Salt KV>rk , and
i now drive at the oxireniu north and
¦ast end of the park, skirts the. outer
Kiundary under a, pretty e.Uff. VUltirs
unite in tholr prstlwe of this park.
>ik» ot tho moat naturally ptetutx'siHte
n tho state,
Other iniprovouunvte will develop as
he revenues will permit. The invvK
s practically ttelf-ausJalniiiK from the
•evomies of tho boat luunn? iviul dancng
pavilion , rofrostuueiit booth, etc.,
ind from time to tinio tluM'o will be
utded rustic bridges to Uve Islam)?.
inoihor bridge ncro»K the Salt l-'oi'k
to diversify iho driveway, tuiothiu- and
larger pavilion, rofroahmoni. booth ,
Btc, an from time to time there will
be . uvit'ii ruwio brldgoa to tho 'Islands,
another .bridge ae»t)»« the Hull Fork to
v. vcvNlfy the driveway, ntiother and
' .,; „ i.i' pavilion ,, more . walUn and all
iho conveniences; which any oily
park, may have. There Its no where in
the vicinity of Champaign or Prbtnia ,
another , tract , which eati eotnpure
with Crystal Lake Park.
Enlarging the Park.
The park now coninliif) an neiviiije
minicient for a suotl sliotl .. farm , hut
the poofilo of Urbana an? mi well
Ph,