half for a building, the plans of which were completed 

 and approved before Mr. Field's death in 1906. By 

 the terms of the bequest, the city of Chicago was to 

 provide the site for the new building ; and the location 

 finally chosen was at the foot of Roosevelt Road, on the 

 Lake front, a spot easily accessible from all parts of 

 the city. The construction of the building was begun 

 in 1915 and completed in 1920. 



Transportation of the exhibits from the old build- 

 ing to the new, a distance of six miles, was a task of 

 herculean proportions. Many of the exhibits had to 

 be handled with extreme care. Some were of great 

 bulk, others of great weight. The exhibition halls of 

 the old building were left untouched and open to the 

 public until about a month before the transfer began. 

 Spur tracks were laid across Jackson and Grant Parks, 

 connecting the two buildings with the Illinois Central 

 Railroad. The transfer was made by rail and by motor 

 trucks. The exhibits furnished full loads for three 

 hundred and twenty-one box and flat cars, and more 

 than three hundred and fifty capacity loads for five-ton 

 motor trucks. The new building was formally opened 

 to the public on May 2nd, 1921. 



THE NEW BUILDING 



The building which houses the exhibits of Field 

 Museum of Natural History is a beautiful structure of 

 white Georgia marble, classic in design and massive in 

 proportion. 



The main architectural motives of the building were 

 inspired by the Erechtheum, one of the noted temples 

 of the Acropolis group in Athens and generally recog- 



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