PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS
Page 42 – THE ADMINISTRATION BUILDING
THE ADMINISTRATION BUILDING.—The heart of the great entity known as the Columbian Exposition was in the Administration Building. Here were the offices of the Presidents and here, also, those of the Director-General and some of his immediate lieutenants. From here the vast machinery was directed and controlled, and about here as a nucleus thronged the multitude preliminary to any great festal occasion. It was intended that the structure should be one dominating in position and in appearance, as the forces in its interior were in reality, and the design was successfully carried out. The word “magnificent” will best express the effect of the structure on the beholder. With the broad plaza all about it affording opportunity for a just idea of its dimensions, with genius exhibited in its grand conception as a whole, and with a tasteful luxuriance of ornamentation and coloring, it was a structure both dignified and splendid. Its gilded dome, towering far aloft, could be seen glittering in the sunlight from a distance of miles; its broad facades enchanted as it was approached and, closer still, its masses of sculpture held the attention rapt. The Administration Building cost $435,000, and was in the form of four pavilions each eighty-four feet square and connected by a great central dome one hundred and twenty feet in diameter and rising to a height of two hundred and fifty feet, its interior enriched with panels filled with sculpture and painting. Beside the four lofty entrances at the base of the dome and in other fitting places were groups of statuary of effective design. All was striking and all fitting.