STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 17 



The building was to have been completed by September first, but 

 owing to an unforsccn accident, caused by the carelessness of one 

 unfortunate man, who lost his life thereby, it was not. The Board 

 deemed it proper to extend the time of tlie contractor three months, 

 which proved to be insufficient, as the great magnitude of the work 

 occupied a much longer period than was contemplated. Not being 

 able to occupy the building for the annual Fair of 1883, tlie Board 

 allowed the contractor all the time he required. 



On the twenty-second day of January, 1884, the building was 

 formally accepted from the contractor as completed— the time occupied 

 in building this immense structure being eight months and six days. 

 The building, as completed, contains 980,000 feet of rough lumber; 

 78,000 feet of rustic; 35,000 feet of wainscotting; 160,000 feet of floor- 

 ing; 1,000,000 shingles; 56 tons of wrought iron; 12 tons of cast iron; 

 50,000 pounds of nails; 39,600 square feet of glass; 12,000 feet of gas 

 pipe, and 2,000 gas burners, including the art gallery jets. About 

 10,000 extra bolts, over and above those specified, have been used in 

 the construction of the building. 



The dimensions of the building as it now stands, are as follows: 

 From ground to top of fiag pole, 160 feet; from floor to peak of main 

 trusses in dome, 108 feet; heigh th of dome, 40 feet; heighth of towers, 

 88 feet; from ground to apex of roof, 89 feet; from the ground to 

 eaves of building, 50 feet. As an extra precaution, lateral rods have 

 been placed between each set of trusses, thereby tying the entire roof 

 together. There is a rod of iron encircling the building on top of 

 wall plates. The main building rests upon posts in each wing, set 

 twenty-eight feet apart, resting on piles driven thirty feet and capped 

 with concrete. The dome rests upon four main posts weighing six 

 tons each, set upon three piles driven to gravel and capped by an 

 eight-foot concrete base. The entire lower floor rests separately on 

 six hundred and seventy-eight brick piers set in cement, and is not 

 attached in any way to the walls of the building. The eight-inch 

 brick wall that fills in the space between the main posts, merely 

 supports six feet of the floor joist. The area of the building is as 

 follows: 



Main hall 45,600 square feet 



Horticultural hall 12,000 square feet 



Machinery hall 12,000 square feet 



Industrial hall 12,000 square feet 



Art trallery 12,000 square feet 



Conservatories 12,800 square feet 



Promenade galleries 17,600 square feet 



Total of floor space 124,000 square feet 



COST OP BUILDING. 



R. McKillican's contract, exclusive of plumbing and gasfitting $74,363 00 



Architect and Superintendent fees 3,100 00 



Advertising 308 80 



M. R. Rose, boring for foundation 40 00 



Gasfitting 2,188 20 



$80,000 00 



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