AN ILLUSTRATED MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE PUBLISHED BY THE STATE SERVICE MAGAZINE CO., INC., LYON BLOCK, ALBANY, NEW YORK CHARLES M. WINCHESTER, President ERNEST A. BARVOETS, Treasurer GEORGE D. ELWELL, Advertising and Circulation Manager JAMES MALCOLM, Editor SUBSCRIPTION: $3.00 PER YEAR IN ADVANCE; SINGLE COPIES, 25 CENTS COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY THE STATE SERVICE MAGAZINE CO., INC. The World's Safest Safe THE SAFE-CABINET You cannot run your business without records. Their value is without measTheir loss cannot be ure. Correct in Design and It's a perfectly designed safe, in which steel is one of the materials used, but between the walls of steel is a processed, patented material found after much seeking the greatest fire resistant, fire retardent composition known to man today. The result is a splendid-appearing, modern steel safe, handsomely finished, "business-all-the-waythrough," fire retardent! Accessible! Portable! Space-saving! The "highest good" in record protection as far as this world has journeyed yet. GEO. W. HARPER COMPANY 47 Maiden Lane, Albany, N. Y. Write us for Copy of "Report of Supervisor of Public Records, Addressed to the Commissioner of Education of New York State, in the matter of an official test of The Safe-Cabinet held at Marietta, Ohio" AN ILLUSTRATED MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE VOLUME II FEBRUARY, 1918 NUMBER 2 NEW OFFICE BUILDING FOR THE STATE T Beautiful structure planned to be erected in Albany to relieve the HE State of New York is preparing to put into effect one of the greatest improvements in Albany made since the erection of a new capitol more than forty years ago. It is many years since the rapidly expanding government of the State outgrew the office accommodations in the capitol. At the last session the legislature made the first move toward the erection of a new building immediately west of the present capitol. Not merely will it be an up-todate structure in every sense of the word but be a splendid addition to the group of magnificent State buildings on capitol hill. New York State pays to private landlords in Albany nearly $100,000 a year. To landlords all over the State it pays in rent $289,683.91 a year. The legislature, during its last session, passed a law appropriating the sum of $700,000 for the purchase of a site for a new State building, to be erected at an estimated cost of $2,500,000, exclusive of the value of the site and to be situated on land bounded by Washington avenue, Swan street, State street and Capitol place. This block is now covered with buildings of various descriptions, some of them very old and dilapidated. The new building will occupy the end near Swan street or farthest away from the capitol in the block. The space between it and the capitol will be set out as a park and beautified to fit the sur Lewis F. Pilcher roundings as shown in the accompanying picture. Immediately after the law was passed, the State architect, Lewis F. Pilcher, acting under the direction of the trustees of public buildings, began the planning of an office building which would harmonize with the education building and the capitol, and, at the same time, be in itself a great architectural monument to the State of New York. Having in mind the fact that an office building to be efficient, must be of uniform construction and equipment throughout, Mr. Pilcher has planned the interior with the He idea of doing away with the crowded, unhealthy, and inefficient conditions which have at times prevailed in the past. He therefore eliminated from his plans the large, high-ceilinged rooms, and the many corridors and wells which predominate in the interior construction of the State capitol, and designed the floor plan so that each department will be arranged for its special needs, unit standards being employed where similar needs in departments occur, and sufficient floor space provided in order that employees may adequately perform their work. In addition, a ventilating system will be installed which will insure a copious supply of fresh air. The design is now completed and from it drawings have been made and approved by the trustees of public buildings, who have authorized the expenditure of $25,000 for the preparation of detailed working plans, and $15,000 for test excavations, borings, and site clearing. These completed drawThese completed drawings call for an U-shaped building eight stories in height with the wide floor space and the minimum of interior column construction familiar to the steel skeleton type of building. On its exterior it will have a veneer of selected New York State marble, while its interior will be finished so as to accord with the varied demands made on a modern office building. The main part of the building, with its public entrances, elevator service and the like, will front on Swan street, and will have two ells or wings, extending eastward along State street and Washington avenue. In this main part the space given over to corridors is reduced to a minimum by having the offices ranged along a central public corridor spacious enough to afford ample means of communication from one side of the building to the other, while in the wings it is planned to do away with public corridors, thereby making the entire floor area available for office space, and thus centralizing departmental supervision and energy and at the same time affording light from two and in some cases three sides. The two wings which face the capitol will be connected by an arch recognizing in imperishable marble, the services of the manhood of the State in the expeditionary forces abroad. abroad. Dedicated as this arch is to the military forces of the State which will engage in the war with the central powers, it will be the first token in durable stone erected by any State in commemoration of its loyal sons. The arch has engaged Corinthian columns embellished at the base with sculptural groups typifying the elements of State strength. To the left are allegorical figures of the State, supported by symbolic repre How the site of the new State office building looks today. New structure will occupy land near the high building at right Proposed new office building for the State. Glimpse of Education building may be had at right sentations of Justice, Religion, Patriotism and Industry; while to the right and balancing this group, is a representation of the youth of the State who marched away under the leadership of Victory. High above the sculptural figures and above the attic of the arch with its carved "For Liberty and the Freedom of the Seas," will be this indelible tribute to the soldiers of New York State: "The State of New York In Honor of its Expeditionary Forces to France, After seeing the plans for this arch, Ralph W. Thomas, one of the members of the State board of tax commissioners in a speech, which he delivered in Albany, paid the following tribute to the building: "Our young men of the State are going out to take part in the battle for righteousness in France, and the beautiful thing about it is that Mr. Pilcher has projected a memorial ahead of its time, so that before the millions in khaki have gone across, before the army has been organized, before the battles have been fought, the people of the State of New York, in the spirit of great national life, have already erected in their hearts the memorial to their heroic sons, who shall win the war as they have already resolved in their hearts that this war shall be won." Visitors to Albany from all sections of the State have long marveled why the State had not acquired the block of land west of the capitol and made of it a fit setting for a fine group of public buildings. But now their dream is to be fully realized not merely with a magnificent new office building to harmonize with the architecture of the capitol and the education building but with a park to add to the general beauty and symmetry of the environment. The new office building will be taken up entirely by the great departments of the State government some of which are now housed in private property in different parts of Albany. Among these are the State comptroller, the State engineer and the conservation commission, each occupying an entire floor of the new telephone building. In the same building the banking department |