University of Virginia Library

THE ELECTRICAL BUILDING.

The home of the, to many, most novel and brilliant exhibition of all, fronts the grand court that holds the Administration Building, and extends to the lagoon. Upon one side is the Manufactures and on the opposite side is the Mines Building. The plan is of a nave extending the entire length of the building, one hundred and fifteen feet wide and one hundred and fourteen feet high. This is crossed in the middle by a transept of corresponding dimensions. A pitched roof covers both nave and transept. The extensions from these central Parts which form the parallelogram, are covered with a flat roof sixty-two feet high, provided with skylights. A series of galleries, connected across the nave by two bridges and reached from below by four grand staircases, form the second story.

The exterior of the structure presents a continuous line of Corinthian pilasters forty-two feet high, supporting a deep cornice and resting upon a broad base, which together make the height above the grade sixty-eight and one-half feet. Pavilions occur at each of the four corners of the building, above which rise ornamental open towers to a height of one hundred and sixty -nine feet. A center pavilion, with double towers, occurs oh each side, and at the south front (on the court) and north front (on the lagoon) will be the elaborate granyentrances. A gigantic statue of Franklin will be placed before the South entrance, and tablet-, containing the names eminent in electrical science will be displayed upon the colonade. The material of this building has been treated to resemble marble, and the decorations composed of figures in relief have a general tendency to illustrate the purposes of the exhibit. All the latest electrical appliances will be found in operation here, and considering the fact that at the last all-American exposition,-Philadelphia, 1876,-the science was but a dream of the future the great discoveries and applications that have since been made will attract every visitor to this spot.