Page:A History of the University of Chicago by Thomas Wakefield Goodspeed.djvu/390

 342 A HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO the buildings, and their wide distribution made it necessary to build two additional heating-plants, one on the north end of Beecher and another on the south end of Snell. They were unsightly structures of common brick, and soon proved insufficient. It very early became evident that a great central plant was indis- pensable. But such a plant would cost a great sum, and there were no funds available for it. The University had some millions of assets, but it did not have one dollar that could be used for this purpose. No man seemed likely, in considering the erection of a University building, to choose a heating-plant, and to undertake to raise the large sum needed for so prosaic a thing by popular subscription was hopeless. It was in these circumstances that Mr. Rockefeller proposed to the Trustees, not that he should give them a certain sum for the construction of the plant, but rather, that he should send his own engineer to build it, the bills to be paid, in part out of subscriptions made in December, 1900, and in part from other contributions from him. Mr. Rockefeller did not realize the largeness of the contract he had undertaken. It was thought by him and by the Trustees that it would not require more than two hundred thousand dollars at the outside. But the project grew on their hands. Several new buildings were offered to the University by generous donors. The campus was enlarged. The permanent buildings of the School of Education were located nearly half a mile from the new plant. The University was expanding in many directions, and the cost of the new plant expanded with it. The Founder, however, did not draw back. He saw the needs of the situation, and encouraged the authorities to go forward and provide, not for the immediate needs only, but for the future as well. The Heat, Light, and Power Plant was located north of Fifty-eighth Street, on the west side of the alley between Ellis and Ingleside avenues. It was constructed of red brick. The contracts for the building of the plant were authorized in March, 1901, and in May the Business Manager reported it in course of construction. In January, 1902, it was reported com- pleted, and the installation of motors, engines, and other machinery was begun. But it soon became apparent that it was not large enough, and before the machinery was fully installed the work of