26 
Building Plans and Appropriations 
Before coming to Brooklyn [I had prepared preliminary plans 
for the laboratory and instruction building, and for the plant 
houses, and during the summer and fall I was in frequent con- 
sultation with Mr. B. L. Fenner, of McKim, Mead & White, 
architects for the buildings, and with various builders of green- 
houses. After a thorough study of the different makes of green- 
houses, it was decided that the Pierson U-Bar type of construc- 
tion was the most satisfactory one for our purposes, and my 
recommendation that this be approximated as nearly as possible 
in our plant houses met with your approval, and our final plans 
have been made accordingly. 
On February 14, 1910, at the recommendation of the 
Institute. the Park Commissioner for the Boroughs of Brooklyn 
and Queens made application to the Board of Estimate and 
Apportionment and to the Board of Aldermen of New York 
City, for the issue of corporate stock of the city to the amount 
of $100,000. It was further requested that one-half of this 
amount be made available in 1910, and the remainder in Igrt. 
As our plans progressed it was found that only the northeast 
wing of the plant houses, the southern pavilion of the building, 
and the underground heating plant between the two could be 
constructed for a sum not exceeding $50,000. A memorandum 
of subsequent legislation which finally made available the entire 
amount of $100,000 to be used as desired, for the building and 
plant houses together, was published in the  BRooKLyN 
Botanic GARDEN REcorD (1: 16-20. Ja IgI2). 
The general plans for our buildings met with the approval of 
your Committee, of the Municipal Art Commission, and the Com- 
missioner of Parks, and working drawings and specifications for 
the portions first to be constructed, prepared by the architects, 
were passed upon favorably by the city departments concerned, 
and advertised for bidding during October-November, I9tt. 
At the meeting of the Board of Park Commissioners on 
November 23, 1911, bids were submitted by eight different firms 
of contractors. The architects’ estimate for this work was 
$52,035; the highest bid was $69,300, and the lowest, $55,809, 
On December 12, rorr, the Commissioner of Parks of the Bor- 
ough of Brooklyn requested approval of $55,800 as a new esti- 
