Page:A History of the University of Chicago by Thomas Wakefield Goodspeed.djvu/202

 172 A HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO authorized to conclude arrangements with Mr. Field for the pur- chase of the fourth block and the exchange of blocks by the unani- mous voice of the Trustees. The committee reported later that in accordance with the arrangement made the University was to pay Mr. Field one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, of which forty thousand dollars was to be paid down and the balance in annual instalments during the next ten years, with interest at six per cent. Mr. Ryerson immediately gave his check for twenty- five thousand dollars and the amount required to be paid down was handed to Mr. Field. In September the City Council vacated the streets and alleys running through the new campus, giving the University a compact site of four blocks extending two blocks each way with a south front on the Midway Plaisance of eight hundred feet. This fourth step in expansion was one of great importance. While the Trustees hesitated over it little could be done in any direction. The buildings could not be planned. Money could not be asked for, since no definite plans could be presented. The enlarging of the site changed everything. For the first time it became possible to make a general scheme for covering the site with buildings. The architect submitted such a scheme which excited great interest and admiration. It was looked upon by many as a dream of a far distant future. A hundred years might see it realized ! As a matter of fact one quarter of that time saw the dream practically transmuted into enduring structures of stone. Energy was at once released in effective appeals for funds, and all the wheels of progress were speedily set in motion. Looking back after a quarter of a century on the growth of the University, one wonders that there should have been any difference of opinion about the necessity of enlarging the site to twenty-four acres a site which in less than twenty years became a hundred acres. But it must be remembered that the question arose nearly two years before the institution opened. It had no president, no pro- fessors, no students. It had no funds with which to buy additional acres. The original site was not paid for, and no one knew where to begin in asking for money to enlarge it. It was felt that per- haps too great expectations were cherished. There might not be