The opportunity for one of the most comprehensive, convenient, and dignified compositions known to city planning anywhere comes from the combination of elements already existing in Chicago, together with the manifest needs of the city in the immediate future. Chicago, unlike many American cities, has not been drawn away from the water. The creation of Grant Park adjacent to the Lake and extending along the entire business front of the city is of inestimable value. Grant Park readily lends itself to the function of a spacious and attractive public garden. The location of the Field Museum in the center of this space is a special instance of good fortune. The purpose of this building is to gather under one roof the records of civilization culled from every portion of the globe, and representing man’s struggle through the ages for advancement. Hence it must become a center of human interest, making appeal alike to the citizen and the visitor; to those who are drawn by curiosity and those who come for study. The very size of the building required to hold and display such collections as are being formed fits it to play an important part in the architectural development of the city.[23] At the same time the great size of the area in which it is placed calls for supporting buildings, to answer corresponding needs. The South Park Commissioners have arranged also for the location of the new Crerar Library building in Grant Park, and a fund of over one million dollars will be available for that structure. This institution, intended for the use of the student of social, physical, natural, and applied science, renders to the community a special service which permits a location irrespective of the center of population. It is the expressed intention of the trustees to make the building monumental in character and classical in style of architecture, so that it will harmonize with the design of the Field Museum.[24] As meeting center for the scientific societies of the West, the location in Grant Park, near the buildings devoted to music and art, seems most appropriate. Moreover, the space set apart on the plan for this structure allows for that expansion in the way of lecture and convention halls which the growing importance of this institution will render necessary. If it shall be found desirable, the central building and administrative headquarters of the Public Library might also be located at this point, thus establishing here a center of letters, similar to the Sorbonne in Paris.