The Park Governments of Chicago 143 



especially interesting by reason of the fact that so late as May, 

 1910, two additional steam turbines were purchased for the new 

 plant at a cost, including installation, of approximately $22,000, 

 and they were not installed until 1911. 



The Washington Park power house will soon become a static 

 station, and one operator to the watch can probably take care of 

 the steam plant and switchboard, thus reducing the present force 

 by three men and saving about $1,600 per year. One sub-station 

 will take care of most of the load, and any other sub-station it is 

 deemed advisable to install may be operated by the local steam 

 engineer. 



A retrospect of the situation shows : 



1. That the Sanitary District was ready to supply power to the 

 parks at about the same time that the Park Board completed its 

 new central plant ; and 



2. That, until such time as Sanitary District power might be 

 obtained, if the Park Board had continued to use the old plant for 

 supplying power to part of the system and purchased power tem- 

 porarily from a private concern for the other part of the system, 

 most of the cost of the new plant, or $319,000 might have been 

 saved. 



WEST CHICAGO PARK COMMISSIONERS 



The West Chicago Park Board signed a contract with the 

 Sanitary District on August 24, 1906, for electric current for 

 lighting purposes. The parks and boulevards west of Oakley 

 Boulevard are lighted under this agreement; the boulevards east 

 are lighted by the city. The contract with the Sanitary District 

 was for a term of fifteen years, and the price agreed upon was 

 $1.25 per horse power per month, based on the maximum load 

 during the month, measured on the recording instruments at the 

 Western Avenue sub-station. Under the contract also the West 

 Park Board pays five per cent, per annum on the original cost of 

 the transmission line from the Western Avenue sub-station of 

 the Sanitary District to the limits of Douglas, Garfield and Hum- 

 boldt Parks, and assumes the expense of repairs and maintenance. 



Prior to July, 1911, arc lamps were estimated to require 

 nine-tenths horse power each. On this basis, the West Park 

 Board used 2,308,666 kilowatt hours during 1910, for which they 

 paid the Sanitary District $13,939.73. The current, therefore, 

 cost $.0064 per kilowatt hour. During July, 1911, an agree- 



