Report of Charles Mulford Robinson for Fort Wayne civic improvement association online

every visitor, is the cleaning" of the alleys. 'J^his will mean
some paving, and some paving repairs. The alleys of h'ort
Wayne are so conspicuous there can be no pretense of civic
beauty if they do not contribute at least cleanliness to the gen-
eral efTect. It is the general experience of cities that to pave
alleys in congested quarters with asphalt, which is easy to clean
and to keep clean, is the course most satisfactory and eco-
nomical.




Ifi .Uley inlerseclion half a block from Calhoun Street. This is fairly typical.



26 I'ort Jl'ayiic Ck'ic fiii/^ro-rciiicii/ . Issnciatio)!

The proposed cleariiii;" of the street walks of unnecessary
appurtenances, and the ini])r(jvcments suggested to facilitate
traffic, will have incidentally a considerable effect in improving
the aspect of the streets. T spoke of ]nitting street lam])s on the
trolley poles. Ornamental lighting of business streets has now
become an accepted form of normal municipal imi)rovement.
The method of arch lighting in use for short distances in the
business section of Fort Wayne is the best of its kind I have
seen. It does not give the heavy, tunnel effect of the arches
used in Columbus, for example. Rut avoiding tliat fault, it slips
into another. On a street which there has hcen serious attempt
to free from overhead wires, there is created a seeming cob-
web of such wires. From the point of view of municipal aes-
thetics, there is no question that an ornamental standard is far
preferable to any arch system. Objection has been made that
a good standard would occupy useful sidewalk space. If the
trolley poles were jacketed for the purpose, this objection
would lose its force, and in any case the requirement would
be a small fraction of that made by such a pole as the one pho-
tographed — which is on Calhoun Street, in the ver}- heart of
the business district, across from the Court House. As long
as there is room for such a pole, nothing should be said about a
lack of room for beautiful light standards.

The signs on this pole bring up another very conspicuous
aesthetic short-coming of Fort Wayne's business streets. This
is the multiplicity of projecting signs. Projecting signs de-
stroy absolutely any architectural dignity. What inducement
has owner or architect to make a handsome facade if these
signs are to render im])racticable any sight of it ? Sometimes
the owners of a good office building prohibit any other signs
than window lettering ; but what use is that, if the tenants of the
structures on either side can thrust out wooden fences to hide
the good buildings? The signs destroy the street's vista, ruin
its proi)ortions. They get in each other's way, one blanketing
another, so that it becomes most difficult to enforce a merely re-
strictive ordinance. They distract the eye as a clamor of



Port Wayne Civic Improvement Association 27




// has been objected that Calhoun Street sidewalks are too narrow for ornamental light
poles, but they are deemed wide enough for this.



28 Fort Jl'iiync C'/r'/V fiiiprorciiicnl . Issociafioii

wrangling shouts distresses the ear, and lead only to confusion.
It is idle to talk about cit\- beauty, about ornamental street
lighting, about a united civic spirit, while the main streets are
given over to such puerile discordance. hVjrt Wayne will do
easily a big thing that will count for much in her municipal
improvement if there be enacted an ordinance prohibiting ab-
solutely the daytime projecting sign.

As to the projecting illuminated sign, it has more numer-
ous friends, because of its brightening of the way. I could
wish the same amount of light might be more artistically dis-
posed — in outlining cornices or stories for example ; but as
there is no natural vista of the street at night that can be
broken, no beauty of architectural ornament to be hidden by
signs that the darkness itself w'ould not conceal, gay night
signs can be suffered with a measure of equanimity. I'ut be-
cause at day time they are more hideous even than the lettered
signs of daylight, if left projecting across the walk, there should
be requirement that they be constructed to fold back, wdien not
in use, against the building. This is a perfectly practicable and
simple requirement, which has been made with entire success
in numerous cities.

May I quote from "Modern Civic Art" these lines, now
commonly accepted as expressing a correct ideal : "The street
at least civic art can claim as its own province, bidding" adver-
tisement stand back to the building line. No hindrance should
be offered to a clear path for travel by walk or road, no an-
nouncement should break the vista of the street, nor thrust
itself before the wayfarer by hanging over the walk or stand-
ing upon it at door or curb. The street should be a clear pas-
sage- — that is its object in the making ; and there is as true a
need that every inch of it be open to the sky as that the vista
of the way be unbroken. This means that civic art, turning its
attention to the furnishings of the street, would frown uix)n all
projecting signs; that it would prohibit all bulletin boards,
signs, and transparencies on the sidewalk or at the curb; that
it would have no banners hung" across the street, nor woidd suf-



Fort IVaync Civic Improvement Association



29




Projecting Signs—Calhoun and Main Sireels.



^^S



30 Fort IVayiie Civic Iiiif^roz^ciiiciit .Issociation

fer any i)nblic utility or ornament of the way to be placarded.
It would sweep the street itself clean of advertisements from
building front to building front."

The smoke evil at Fort Wayne is very serious. Some
people, knowing that smoke represents business, point to it
with pride, or at least indulgently, and say that it means wealth.
But the thing it really means is waste. Mechanical smoke
suppression has not yet been satisfactorily perfected. The
fireman is in the main resi)onsible. If it were generally under-
stood that every ba»iner of black smoke advertises, as it does,
the carelessness and inefificiency of firemen, there would come
improvement. An ordinance imposing a fine on employer and
employe for the emission of black smoke for upwards of five
consecutive minutes at a time would help, if properly enforced.

Under the heading, "An Industrial District," I shall speak
of another phase of the'matter, perhaps giving better promise
of results ; and I approve a suggestion that in the heart of
the city there be marked out a zone within which the emission
of any black smoke shall be unlawful.

A shelter for waiting trolley passengers is a need at
"Transfer Corner." Eventually, the interurban trolleys will
need, and the municipality will properly insist that they have,
an adequate terminal station. There is no more reason why
they should be sufifered to use the public streets for station pur-
poses than that steam railroads should lie excused from pro-
viding station accommodations. Indeed, there is less reason,
since steam trains would stop on a private right of way, while
the trolleys, loading and unloading in the street, block traffic
on a public highway. So the station need will be eventually
met in Fort Wayne, as it has been in Indianapolis. But in the
meantime a shelter at "Transfer Corner" would be a genuine
public convenience. There is room for it on the broad walk
north of the Court House on Main Street, a walk forty feet
wide — and a light, artistic little structure could well be placed
at the northwest corner. I append photographs of one in use
at Washington, and of one on the public square in Cleveland.
It is as well that tlicre be no seals provided, as these might in-



Forf JJ^aync Civic luiproTcmcut .Issocialiou 31




Sidewalk shelter for wailing trolley passengers in IVashington.




A trolley waiting station on the Public Square in Cleveland.



32 I'ort U'dyiic Civic Iinprorc'iiicnf dissociation

vite louiii^iiii^-. The thinj;' needed is shelter from the sun and
storm. The city should select the desij^^n, and should compel
the companies to ])ay for the structure — as they would probably
be quite willing" to do if i^iven the place to put it. There
should be a distinct understanding, however, that the arrange-
ment is temporary only.

The matter of ornamentally lighting the business streets —
a work which, through the co-operation of the merchants, has
been successfully taken up in many cities — has been referred to.
lUit whether or not this be promptly done, the w^ide walks
around the Court House should have ornamental lighting. It
would seem hardly necessary to argue that point. There is
now being installed in Lincoln Park, Chicago, a simply de-
signed and beautiful standard, which, it seems to me, requires
little modification to meet the need of this location. The
standard is of concrete, cast in metal forms ; but the cement is
so mixed with granite and washed in acid that when complete it
has the color of granite. The cost is considerably less than
that of an iron standard, and on the wide stone walk, with the
background of the stone building, it will better harmonize with
its setting than w^ould iron. I suggest that it be investigated.

A Public Comfort Station is a need in the business por-
tions of cities that is receiving increased recognition in the
Cnited States, as it has long been recognized in Europe. The
underground toilet best satisfies American sentiment. One
might be arranged in connection with the suggested trolley
waiting station, a stairway at one end leading dow'n to the
men's di\ision, and a stairway at the other leading to the
w^omen's. This location would be exceedingly convenient.
Another excellent site, perhaps a better one if location at the
waiting station would duplicate facilities already offered in the
Court House, would be under some of the market space on
Barr Street, north of the City Hall. This would be con-
venient for the market men. and it would be close to crowded
business streets, while yet retired. I a]:)pen(l a photograph of
all that shows above ground of a comfort station at Toronto,
located on a site verv similar to this.



fort Wayne Ch'ic I )iipvo\'ciiu'nl . Issocin/ion 33

lUit. when all is said, the aspect of the business quarter of
a city is more dclcnnined ])y the character of its commercial
huildini^s. and by the i)ro])ortion of their heit^'ht to the width
of the streets on which they front, than by any other thing". It
has been well remarked that these proportions are one of the
fundamental ])rinciples in the art of beautiful cit\' building. To
that art they bear, it has been noted, the same relation as do
the voids and solids in the elevation of a structure, or as do the




Entrance to a Public Comfort Station at Toronto.

lights and shadows of a pictitre. Incidentally, as w'as pointed
out by the experts who made study of Grand Rapids, these
proportions "constitute the basic principle of all sanitation, as
the open spaces (of the street) provide the necessary sunlight,
air and breathing spaces for the population surrounding them."
With the very narrow business streets of Fort Wayne,
there is the gravest danger that buildings will be erected of a
height destructive to the comeliness of the street, to its pro]ier



34 /vT/ U'liync Ci7'ic hnprovciiiciif . Issociatinn

sanitation, and to its traflic capacity. For, on the latter point,
it is to be recalled that all tall buildings pour their population
into the street, and draw it out of the street, at a])proximately
one time. It would take few high buildings to congest Cal-
houn Street ; and buildings exceeding six stories in height will
very quickly convert it into the appearance of a canyon. It is
imperative, for the good looks of Fort Wayne, and for comfort
and healthfulness in its business district, that there be imposed
a restriction as to l)uilding height to the extent of proportion-
ing it to street width. In Europe there is common recjuire-
men that the height of buildings shall not exceed one and one-
half times the width of the street on which they face. Boston,
Chicago, and St. Louis are among the American cities that
have not been afraid to establish a maximum height limit.

While a proportioning of building height to street width
will put in your hands a strong weapon for securing the widen-
ing of Calhoun Street from the railroad to Lewis, there is this
also. to be considered: A limitation of building height is of
general benefit to property. Preventing the concentration of
the city's business into the short space occupied by a few very
high buildings, it extends the business section over adjacent
streets. The larger area absorlied by business displaces near-
business tenants. These locate a little further out, and so the
movement extends until everywhere there is increased demand
for property. In short, there is the effect of dropping a stone
into a pool, the surface being afifected to the furthest limits. No
holder of property outside the two or three most high-priced
squares of Fort Wayne but would directly benefit financially,
as well as in other ways, by a restriction of building heights.

( )ne word more must be said. It seems to me exceedingly
likely that a secondary business district is going to develoj) on
South Calhoun Street. There is a very large poi)ulation on the
south side, and one that is steadily growing. The elevation
of the Pennsylvania and Wabash tracks will do away with most
of the danger of the crossing; but the long suljway will still
])resent a barrier, which pedestrians will n(it be keen to cross.



Fort ]]''ayuc Ck'ic IniprovcmciU .Issociation 35

This business, which of course will be distinctly secondary
to that north of the tracks, will probably center at the corner
of Calhoun Street and Highland Avenue, as there the cars con-
verge. It will not be so much an extension of the main busi-
ness district as a subsidiary development. This probability has
bearing on the City-Plan in that it invites inclusion of the small
designated area south of the tracks in the comments and sug-
gestions which have been made above for the district north of
them.



36 Port JJ'aynr Ci:'ic fiiif^rorciiioit Associatinn

The Official Quarter.



Foit WayiK' has ali-eady
ail official ([uartcr ; foi- the
tlirec j)u])li(' ))uil(liii^s,
ivspecfcively rcpi-eseii tative
of coiinty, nation and city,
arc rangvd ak)ng' a .sinjj'le
sti'cet in a space of two
Ijlocks. Bnt the arrange-
nient is absolutely ineffec-
tive. The Court House has
the l)est site ; but the most
favoi-able view one can get
of it is through alleys, since
they alone center on its
dome. Without grounds
around it, sui-rounded by
narrow streets, where tall
buildings will soon seem to
place it in a little walled
courtyard, one cannot even
now get far enough away
to see it as a whole. The
two other buildings, oc-
cupying commonphice com-
mercial sites, ai'e hidden
from one another by inter-
vening structures. In the
aggregate there is i-epre-
sented a very hirge public
expenditui-c. One could almost throw a stone from structure
to stnictiwe ; yet there is no cunuilative effect.

To the problem of creating out of these adjacent l)ut dis-
tinct units a single civic composition that sliould make a Civic
("enter, 1 have devoted a great deal of thought. The practical




Fort JJ'ayue Civic hiiprovcmcnt Association 37

difficulties, due to important improvements and high property
vahies. are ahnost prohibitive. Yet values on Berry Street, be-
tween the Court House and City Hall, are not going- to diminish
or stand still. They seem as certain as any in the city to ad-
vance, and unless a plan embracing this property can be car-
ried out at once, it is not likely ever to be executed. Neither
can there be reasonably anticipated the building of a new Court
House and a new Postoffice on new sites. The one hope of a
Civic Center for many years lies in dealing with the present
situation.

The condition is a striking illustration of the value to a
community of getting a City Plan as early as possible. Fore-
seeing a big. costly Court House on its present site, there
might have been created, before the Foster and Elektron build-
ings were erected, a broad, beautiful Mall, leading directly
eastward to terminate in the l)luff at the bend of the ]\Iaumee
river, at IMonroe Street. An alley, on the axis of the dome,
now traverses the distance, and it would have been necessary
onl\- to widen this. From Barr Street to Clay there are only gar-
dens even now. It is a fair question whether for those two
blocks the Mall would not be more benefit than damage to the
property through which it would pass. The property between
Clay and Alonroe is shallow and not now expensive. The
costly part of the scheme today is only the block and a half be-
tween the Court House and Barr street. Of this the first half
block Avas once public property and should simply have been
kept as the Court Housfe vSquare. The block from Clinton to
Barr would have offered, on either side the ]\Iall, the appro-
priate sites for Post Office, City Hall, and Convention Building,
so greatly reducing the net cost. There would have been con-
ferred on the neighborhood, and on the city at large a great
benefit. Increased assessment values would long ere this have
paid for the improvement. And think what we should have !
An opportunity to see the Court House ; and a Court of Honor,
the Court House at its west end, harmonious public buildings
flanking either side to Barr Street. Between them, for ve-
hicle traffic would have remained on !Main and Berry Streets,



38 Fort JVayiie Civic Improvement Association

a broad grass ribbon with, on each side of it, a promenade, ex-
tending from the Court House Square to the river blufif, where
is opened an entrancing view. Here a flagstafif would have
stood, in honor of Wayne's stand, and at Old Fort Park,
which curving ends would have brought into the Mall scheme,
his statue might well have been placed.

Coming into Fort Wayne by the Nickel Plate train, or
standing at the little park at the eastern terminus of the Mall,
how fine a view of the Court Flouse would have been pre-
sented, how beautiful a civic picture ; what an impression would
have been gained of the city ! Or, turning to look north and
east, we would have had the meeting of the three rivers and
the view down the lovely Maumee.

Doubtless the plan will seem impossible now, for today
it would take a great deal of money. But the thought of how
effectuall}^ a comparatively small measure of construction has
l)locked so fine a possibility should give heart to do promptly
whatever still can be done.

We have to accept the three present public buildings, as
fixed points, so far as their location is concerned. A Conven-
tion Flail, however, is contemplated and there naturally would
be advantages in a central location. Either of two sites may
be, in my judgment, properly selected for it, according as it is
proposed to make it contribute to one scheme or the other.

For the development of a Civic Center, it might be put
on the north side of Berry Street, between the Elektron build-
ing and Barr Street. There is nothing which is very expen-
sive on this site, and its advantages for the purpose are many.
In its convenience, indeed, the site is all that could be desired ;
and the public building here would tie together the Post Office
and City Hall. Between the latter two there is already, in the
Post Office yard and the Majestic's open-air theatre, a good
deal of open ground. If it should be possible to throw it all
open — a fire, for instance, might easily clear most of the rest
of the ground — we should have three public buildings gath-
ered around three sides of a s.quare, and a very presentable little



Fort JVayiir Civic linfTovciiiciit . Issocialioii 39

Civic Center ready made. Meanwhile, location here would fur-
ther emphasize the Q-roui)ing- of the public buildings. It re-
serves a bit of land that will never be less valuable, insuring a
safe investment ; and if a Mall ever were opened to the Court
House, in order that the latter might be revealed, a Conven-
tion Hall on this site would profit directly from the scheme
and would, in turn, enhance it. As to the possibility of open-
ing the Mall, there is no other side from which such an ap-
proach to the Court House can be made. The existing alley
is fourteen feet wide, and even the Elektron building stops
nine feet short of it. As there is nothing else of prohibitive
value on the plat, an approach thirty-two feet wide is blocked
today only by the Foster building.

To put the Convention Hall on this site, would be, then,
to secure an exceedingly convenient location ; to feel entire
safety regarding the investment value of the property ; to add
somewhat to the official quality which the neighborhood already
possesses ; and to be ready for a fine civic effect should either,
or both, of two possibilities eventuate in the municipal devel-
opment of the surrounding land. It is the one chance for fur-
ther developing and accentuating the present official quarter.



Fort JJ'ayiic Cii'ic liiipro-c'cmriif Association 39

Civic Center ready made. Meanwhile, location here would fur-
ther emphasize the grouping" of the public buildings. It re-
serves a bit of land that will never be less valuable, insuring" a
safe investment ; and if a Mall ever were opened to the Court
House, in order that the latter might be revealed, a Conven-
tion Hall on this site would profit directly from the scheme
and would, in turn, enhance it. As to the possibility of open-
ing the Alall, there is no other side from which such an ap-
proach to the Court House can be made. The existing alley
is fourteen feet wide, and even the Elektron building stops
nine feet short of it. As there is nothing else of prohibitive
value on the plat, an approach thirty-two feet wide is blocked
today only by the Foster Ijuilding.

To put the Convention Hall on this site, would be, then,
to secure an exceedingly convenient location ; to feel entire
safety regarding the investment value of the property ; to add
somewhat to the official quality which the neighborhood already
possesses ; and to be ready for a fine civic effect should either,
or both, of two possibilities eventuate in the municipal devel-
opment of the surrounding land. It is the one chance for fur-
ther developing and accentuating the present official quarter.



40 Port JJ'ayiic Ck'ic Iinproi'cmcut .'Issnciatioii

Approaches to the New Station,



T said there was an alternative site for the Convention
1 lall. This other site would hrini;- it into the Station I 'Ian.

Very clearly the building of a new and costly station,
which is to be much lart^er than the old, and not improbabl)-
a Union Station, develops a civic opportunity which amounts
almost to an obligation. If the railroads have a faith in Fort
Wayne that leads them to do so much, the municipality should
show a like confidence and arrange to the new station an ade-
quate approach.

Two practical considerations, as distinguished from the
sentimental one, urge promptness in such action. First, the
improvement is likely to result in the rapid rebuilding of the
neighborhood, with the consequence that conditions will be-
come fixed, and values largely raised. When the station has
been opened to business, it will be too late to change street
lines unless heavy expense can be incurred. Second, it is ob-
vious that a large new station, which will soon be the point of
arrival and departure for many more trains and many more
passengers than the little station of today, is going to create
a great increase in the traffic of the streets leading to it, and
for such increase there is now no provision. Finally, the ap-
pearance of a city when one comes out of the station makes the
first, and therefore the most lasting, impression upon strangers.
The station is the door of the city, and the space before it is
the city's vestibule. This is much better understood abrc^ul
than it is with us; but the great plaza in front of the beautiful
new station in Washington, the magnificent station ai)proaches
])lanned in Chicago and San Francisco, under the iiurnham
plans, in lUitTalo, Cleveland and Los Angeles, under the i)lans
made b)' other authorities, and the beautiful station plaza
which for years has made Frovidence, R. L, famous, are suf-
ficient indication that the good sense of Aiuericans is leading
them to a like conclusion. We are beginning to appreciate that



Fort JJ'iiyitc Civic fiiifTO'c'ciiioif Associafion 41

the station exit and entrance is a focal point, that here the