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APRIL 1915- - - -- - - ~ -

The Park BuildingThe Completion of Worcester's Newest and Most Modern Office Structure Adds Another Milestonin the March of Progress of the Heart of the Commonwealth-Erected Upona Historic Site in the Geographical Center of the City~ ~ ~ I R E L E Ti mf', t he w on d er w ovk er , hasmig h t ily changed the scones t h at were f am il ia r to t he good fol k wh o inha b it ed W orces ter wh en Massa chusett s Ba y was st ill aclu sterin g colony , before t.h e " I n d ia ns " ofBoston ha d t hro wn a ce r-tain s hip-loa d of t ea in t o th espa, 01' t he determ ined g t>n t le lllen wh o m et in th e firstContinr- nta 1 Con g J'f'SS had si gned th e ir names to t heDeclnrution of In d ep en d ence . ,V ere so me of th o se car -I\' resid ents of W otc ostc r to come h ac k to ea r th fo r a~ about an d per h ap s a re u n ion a mon g t he mselves ,tllPy would find th at t h ing s look ed va stl y di fferentabout th e spot wh er e th er e used t o be a ce r ta in " li t t l ekno,l"1 e, " famil ial' to t he m in ch ild ho od d a ys ,As it so happ en s, th ey w ou ld probably n ev er knowwher e that " littl e lm ow le " onc e 1'3 ised it s grassy slopeun less th ey sea rc hed t he r ec ord s a t th e Cou n ty Com-t1I0 11 se, An d even th en , after l ocatin g th e spot a t th ecorner of Main a n d Frank lin s t reets , th ey would co rtninly he lost in as ton is h m on t a t s igh t of a ta ll, s t a t el ygray business bl ock co vcr ing th e si t e a ud cornpe [lingth em to look far al oft t o t ak e in it s en ti re heigh t.

] 0 1' where t ha t small h ill oc k , t hus qu ai n tl y dssignutod in p rc-R ov olu ti onarv record s, ou co w as th er estands today th e im p os in g P ark bu ild in g , jus t co mpletcd , Wor ceste r 's newest a nd th o mos t mo d er n b usiI1l'SS structure in .l\ew E naln nd . Wi th in t he las t tw oweeks th e work men h av e cea sed th ei r s wa rm ing a n dt he office te na nt s h a ve ta k ou t hoi r place ; until t oday ,where oncc a mod est C011,lg f', p n rt ly sc reen ed by a ro wof stnt l'l." tr ees, 100k C'd out up on th e quiet roadwaywhich was tho Main s tr e et of th a t tim e, t lio edificeIn-ought int o bein g h)' th e P a rk Buil d ing Co., of which,/

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84 WOROESTEROne of his ] [111' s t ude nts was J oh n Ad ams, wh o laterbecame secon d Presiden t of th e U nited States , In th eold house a t rh o C01'11('1' of M[lin an d Ft-an k liu st reets,

John Ad ams hon rd cd while un d c r t hc tu t ela ge of Putn a m,'I'h c pra ctice ,111(] f'au ic of th i s Pu tnam oxtcndc dth rou gh ou t th o the n P ro v in ce of Ma ssachusetts. H etin a ll v became a ttor nc y ' r l l r ' of Ihe p rovince uIH1nth e Kin g, t o wh om J1(' )'(lIl11 in rd ]0,1'

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85ORCESTER

'Whe n Th omas H , Ua g r, executor uncl cr th e will ofKatharine AI1n, co nveyed la s t year t o J ero me RGeorge an d Marcu s L. F oste r th e cut i re ostatc, th e oldstructure was d em ol i sh ed t o mak e w ,)\' f or it s fa r mo r esplendid SU CC('S i-iOl', t h e Pros on t Pa rk 'B u i Idi n g , [,' 0 1' awhil e t he Dr W OW IWI'S d .-ba tc d th e questi on of ex tonsively r emod elli n g th e o ld w oo den buildin g, but it wa sfound to be in su ch an agr-d state, a nd so ou t of h ar -mony wi th modern id eas of o ffice bu i ld ing s , th a t th eexp ense would pl a inl y be out of ,111 p roport iou to t h ebenefit.A ne w building was th e refore dc crcc d ; an d , thatnothing mi ght be left und on e to k eep ab reas t of th etimes, it w a s li k ewise d ecided th at a II i ts ap poiu t me n tsshould b e of th e b es t a nd th e sa fe s t, r egardl es s of theexpense, provi d ed only t ha t mo n ey was not wa s t ed inunhus in css-I il- cx p cnd i tu res,Th ose stud en t s of lo cal hi st orv who hav e thus fa rfoll owed th o f ortunes of t h is ' la nd of th e "littleknowle " th r ou g-h it s se ve ra l own ers, Daniel Gookin,Stephen F essenden, Jalnrs Pu tnn m, a l l l u F lag g,Daniel Cla p , Chn rIcs All en a nd K at h arin e All en , dnwnto th c p r esen t y ear , will find i t interest in g t o no t e th atin 1827 t he es ta t e was d cs cribcd as b ound in g north er lyon th e Co m m o n ,

App arentl y p art of t he Common \H I S later es t a b lish ed as S out h st reet and this in turn becam e knownahont 1840 as P n rk s t ree t , r r-ta iu iu g th is ua nic until afew y ea rs a g o wh en it was cha nge d to Fran kl in s t rc otto avoid conflicting' with Park avenu e.

Th u s th e Park Buildin g' pt-ose rv os t hv old ua m o ofFranklin street. Y et

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~ WOR CESTER MAGAZI NEi t sor m as if t h is C01'11rl" W

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87YO HC ESTEROIW) H'd qu icke-r t han any ot hor do ol's in W orces ter1' l'OIIi th e corr -ido r side , 1'11('1'('

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88 'VOR C.ESTERt erial an d it is of a fin ish th a t cann ot f ai l t o de l igh tthe connoisseur. 'I'her c is no t a g reat deal of it , beca use , as al rc ad y s ta ted , th e w oodwork h as bee n m ad eas n eg lig ible a qu a n t it y as p ossib le. I t is confi ned ent ir ely t o t he d oo rs a nd wi nd ow sa she s.T he d oor s a ro eq u ippe d with a wh ole co llec t ion ofd evices fO I" r r-du cin g irri ta t ion. Th e hin ges arc hun g

:1 ~ ~

lUAGAZI:KEof t he win d ows . On th e t op floo r th e offices a rcm in a tc d by d rop l ights,Co lo r ti n ts in th e offic es ar c conduciv e to increath e ligh t, a lt ho ugh t here is lit t le IH l'(1 of it. 'I'h o in gs arc plai n w h it e and t he wal l s arc t inted acrc n ru co lor. 'I'h c 1100l's ,1I'e lin olou m ce me n ted toconcr-ete. Th.e haschounl s a l't' nu r r ow . T he officen ish ings a 1'( ' to be ma ho gu nv . 'I'h o offices all conop en la va tor ios.'W hat is a pt t o stI'11 c t ho vixit or as he w alk s throt h e t wo st ru ight corr-ido rs, n in fee t ill wid th betwt h e offices a nd (,I(' \'('n ill fr ont of t he eleva tors, il ig h t. F'ro tn ('Ild to ('11(1 the' p i s a g c w ' w it h mosa ic fioo l's a l'e so lni gh t as t o render a n a rt iligh t un u cccssa rv exce pt a t n ig ht .'I'h is is a chieve d hy II\I.' a1lS of f ul l le ngt h gl as s p ain th e d oo rs of t he officrx . T h is glass, of a pecutext ur-e, r esembles li tt le d izuuoncls of wir e nct t iug ,

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II 1 0 9 8

TY PI CAL P LOOR P OF ' '

on fiber cus hions so t hat m et al ca n nev er t ou ch met aland tho h in ges wo u ld n ot squea k if th ov wercu t oi ledin ten yea rs , Th e olel srvl of d oor -ch eck oper a ted byth e f oo t is don e a way w ith a nd th es e C 0 0 1S can beche ck ed hy a si mpl e s tea d y ing of t he handl e, ,111cl ca nhe set at a ny an gl e desi red . 'I'ho t r ansoms arc 01)(' 1'a t cd by a knob in th e door f'raiu c in st ead of th e s lidin gro el ar ran gement .B u rglars wh o t r ied t o p ick t he locks of office d oo rsin th e P a r k Bui ldin g w ould hav e t he ti me of th eirli ves. 'I'h c unit lock d ev ice, whi ch has been in st all edt hro ug h out t he bu ild in g , makes it imp ossib le to fo r cea loc k by an y a cc e-pted mot.hods of bu r gl a ry . 'I' hc k eyw hich un l oc ks th e door of t he office a lso u n locks t hedoo r of t he toi let, reducin g t he nu mb er of ke ys t ha ta ll office r en te r has t o carry hy on e. 'l'hcs a r c t heonly t w o doors t ha t his l; ey will un lock. '1'1 1

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,VOROESTERfire st a r t ed in t h a t pa r t of th e bu ilding i t w ould b ebar red fr om th e elev a to r shaft s b y th e ca sing s of s te elalr eady d escrib ed .As a f u r t he r p r o t ec tion, t h e w indows on t h e southand east, wh er e th er e nr c nd joining build in gs n earby,H e provided w it h s tee l sa she s a nd w ir e glass ,Ea ch st ore ha s a roomy bas ement and in t he b asemont, besi de th e st eam h ea ti n g an d pow er pl ants, a r ethe coal bunk er s wh ich are loca te d be nea th All encourt , as mu ch out of th e w ay as poss ib le.Toilet fac ili t ies a r c th e most sanitary , Th e w om en 'stoilet on each fl001' open s off th e st a irway v es t ibul e,while the men 's toilet is on t he other sid e of t he b u ilding, openi n g off th e long er corrido r , Th e to i let s ar efi nished in wh ite g lass ,'I he r en t in g of offices in t h e Pa rk Bui ld in g is go ingforward wi th r egul ru-ity, for, as id f'ro ru th e co nunan rling advantages w h ich th e building can off er , th e bus iness l ife of t h e c itv has su ppo rted th e owne rs in th e irproject.While th e bul k of space was rented in t he b uildin glong' before comple t ion , SOIl1(' rrma in cd w hen t he struc ture was thrown op en , but this is ra p idly filli n g up ,

Tha t Ten Pe r Ce nt. GiftI "ELAT I YE to t h o rec en t ac t ion on th o pa rt of':. Congress in passing t.h so -called Cu mm ins :/?ilJ,, . Se nate B i ll ,'\ 0 , 4522, wh ich p ruct icalf y gtves. to th e ra i l roa ds of the coun tr y of ,1I l nrld it ion ul]0 1 (' 1 cent . in th ci r o-cvou uc h,lSI'

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- -= = ~ = = = = = = PARK BUILDING

Fron1 One-Third to One-HalfYour Time Is Spentin Your OfficePleasant Conditions

with good air and view a nd the best of sanitary conveniences will ad d years to yo ur professional or business lifeThis Means Mucll to You

- I t mean s that yo ur competitor-w h o is handicappinghimself with a clark, untidy office, is losing his grip- I t means that you are keeping up with the spirit ofto-day- You can serve the people better by being in the

PAR'!( BUILDING.Offices, $15.00 and Up

PARK BUILDING CO.MAURICE F. REIDY, R enting Age1lt

716-717 State Mutual Building~