162 Chicago Bureau of Public Efficiency 



trussed roof over wood-joist ceilings in all portions of the building other 

 than the assembly rooms ; in these large rooms the ceilings are open, 

 showing the clear span wood trusses. The general care throughout all 

 of the small parks is excellent. As a rule, the boiler rooms are of fire- 

 proof construction and the small cooking devices used in the refectories 

 safely arranged. At a number of the parks, however, the arrangement of 

 the transformers is open to severe criticism, the apparatus for the most 

 part being located in rooms with ordinary joist ceiling, and otherwise not 

 fireproof. 



At Hamilton Park the transformers are located in the basement 

 adjoining the boiler room, in rather crowded quarters, with a low, open- 

 joisted ceiling overhead, being directly under the women's toilet rooms. 



At Mark White Square the transformer, in addition to being a serious 

 fire hazard on account of its location in a non-fireproof room, is a serious 

 menace to the lives of employees who may pass near the transformer. 



As a rule, the buildings at each of the parks are fairly well detached 

 one from the other. At Armour Square, however, the buildings are quite 

 closely grouped, and there is consequently somewhat of a mutual exposure 

 between the fieldhouse and the gymnasium building. At practically all 

 of the parks the immediate fire protection is scant. 



Recommendations. 



(1) All transformer rooms should be of strictly fireproof con- 

 struction — floors, side walls and ceilings — and special attention 

 should be given to the prevention of easy access to the transformer 

 rooms by any other than the engineers of the park. In no cases 

 should these transformer rooms be used for storage or for locker 

 rooms, as is the case at Armour Square. 



(2) An ample supply of 3-gallon chemical fire extinguishers 

 should be distributed throughout all the buildings of the small parks. 



Summ^ary. 



In the foregoing report no mention has been made of the many 

 excellent features which obtain in and around the greater number of the 

 buildings of the South Park district. As a rule, the condition as to 

 cleanliness and order is commendable. This applies particularly to the 

 small park fieldhouses and gymnasiums. There are two features, however, 

 which seem most open to criticism at all of the park properties. 



1. The lack of immediate fire protection, and 



2. The failure to carry out fireproof or fire-resisting construction 

 throughout in all of the new buildings. 



In no private properties in which values are as great as those at the 

 parks is the fire protection so poor. Briefly, the fire protection at the 

 parks may be said to be about twenty-five per cent, of what it should be. 



As to the construction of the newer buildings, it seems illogical to 

 have erected buildings of modern fire-resisting construction up to the 

 roof, and then to have placed thereon a roof of the most combustible type. 



VI. PARK AND BOULEVARD PAVEMENTS 



For several years the three large Park Boards have been ex- 

 perimenting with the various types of road construction which 



