12-08-69 Council Meeting Minutes (Last meeting at City Hall)

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DECEMBER 8, 1969 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE FIRST COUNCIL MEETING HELD IN THE SOUTH BEND CITY HALL SOUTH BEND, INDIANA As this is the last time the Honorable South Bend Common Council will meet in this hallowed chamber in this City Hall at 214 N. Main Street, it appears appropriate to render a historical background of this venerable building that has had a major role in the government of the city for almost three quarters of a century. City administrations operated from various leased buildings until this structure was erected at the turn of the last century. Because the city lacked sufficient bonding power at the time, James Oliver, millionaire plow manufacturer, offered to finance the construction of a City Hall and to lease it to the City on a temporary basis until funds were available for its outright purchase. Mayor Schuyler Colfax, Jr. appointed a Council Committee to plan the new building. Their names appear on the marble wall plaque on the way down the stairs. The committee reported to the Council at the meeting of October 16, 1899, and gave three architect choices to design the building. Freyermuth & Maurer was first choice, C. A. Brehmer, second.and Parker & Austin, third. Apparently there was some disagreement among the 14 Councilmen over the choices. Motion were made to delay a final selection. One wanted a three -day recess, another a two -hour recess. The minutes of the meeting reflect that the recess ended at 10:30 p.m. Then the first choice of Freyermuth & Maurer as the architect was accepted with two nays, by Essex and Morgan. Then, as now, there were those who dissented. The wording of the agreement between the City and Mr. Oliver was entered into the minutes. It provided that the building cost should not exceed $75,000; that the city have a 12 -year lease at $7,200 a year with an option to buy during that interim and with a 4 per -cent interest to be paid on any balance. It was a novel arrangement at the time. A court suit was filed by a party to test the legality of the agreement and the Circuit Court Judge held it was illegal. But his ruling was appealed to the Indiana Supreme Court which said the agreement, indeed, was a valid contract. i The litigation delayed the start of construction but at last on May 20, 1901, the cornerstone was laid in a brief crermony at which Mayor Colfax and others made appropriate remarks. Henry G. Christman Construction Company was the contractor. Further delays occurred during the work and finally on November 8, 1902, it was offially accepted.as completed. Historians of the day called it an imposing edifice suited for its noble purpose and the most elegant City Hall in Indiana. News articles of the time lavishly described the structure as a monument that would endure forever and as a modern wonder. The Common Council, which then consisted of 10 members, met for the first time in the new ornate Council Chambers, Monday, November 10, 1902. This was determined not from any entry in the minutes of the meeting but from other.printed sources. A news item the next day said the City fathers waxed warm and eloquent as they debated various issues in the new chambers and oratory and rhetoric flowed freely. The minutes reflect not a single word or reference to the occasion as the initial session in the new City Hall. The Councilmen present at that historic meeting were: Henry F. Elbel, John C. Schreyer,' H. T. Montgomery, J. Henry Hartzer, Gustav A. Stueckle, George Whiteman, Peter Kosczorowski, James H. Loughman, Leo M. Kucharski and M. J. Sommers. Mayor Edward J. Fogarty, elected only two months before, to succeed Colfax, presided. Business transacted included the report of the Board of Works over the signature of President W. A. McInerny, that there were unpaid bills for the City Hall Fund of $4, 836.08, which included $4,228.55 for furniture and $32.25 for cuspidors bought from George H. Wheelock Company. An ordinance - requiring the licensing of autos was defeated. There was much discussion over the failure of the Grand Trunk Railway to place watchmen at Division, Main, Franklin, William, Taylor and Scott Streets, as ordered earlier by the Council. Councilman Loughman said the railroad had offered to install gates but Mayor Colfax would not allow them. After the hearing, Mayor Fogarty said, "We shall have watchmen at those crossings now." He directed the City Attorney to file court suit if necessary to make the railroad comply. And annexation, then as now, also was a matter for the attention of the Council. Councilman Montgomery moved that the City limits be extended east on Mishawaka Avenue to take in the territory where the City was laying watermains.