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DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM BUILDING. 
The general building is to be about 308 feet long and has 
a depth of 50 feet, and provides halls on each story uniformly 
46 feet wide, 18 feet high and about 85 feet long. 
The plans allow for the construction of wings in the future, 
as shown in the accompanying design. 
The building is designed in Italian Renaissance style in 
which regularity is confined to the two chief stories, where 
the main order of Corinthian pilasters and entablature about 
40 feet in height is carried uniformly through all parts and 
thus gives unity to the edifice, while the upper story is made 
to appear in full effect only in the central mass and upon the 
flanking wings, the intermediate portions showing steep roofs 
with dormer windows. The order is limited to two stories 
because these are the chief portions of the structure and are 
thus appropriately marked in the external character, and be- 
cause the upper story is thus left susceptible of freer and 
more varied treatment. 
The central feature is crowned by the dome of the reading 
room rising somewhat higher than any other part and mak- 
ing a reposeful culmination of the height. The whole 
stands upon a basement which is partly masked by the ap- 
proaches and terrace. Thus the apparent height is lessened 
and the sky line varied without injury to the utilitarian in- 
terior. The order of pillars gives bold scale to the building, 
with vertical lines effective at distances, and in harmony with 
the woodland surroundings. The detail will be academic 
and historical throughout. The materials are to be white 
brick and terra cotta which mature in a few months to a light 
gray most harmonious with the foliage surrounding. 
The principal entrance is put at the first floor level so that 
all the public museum halls are within one flight of stairs up 
and one down. ‘This is managed by forming a terrace along 
the main front of the building reached by an inclined ap- 
proach and raised at the centre, half the height of the base- 
ment, and by keeping the basement down a little (without, 
