The civic center will be dependent for its effectiveness on the character of the architecture displayed in the buildings themselves, in their harmonious relations one with another, and in the amount of the space in which they are placed. Surely, the results attained at the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893 so amply proved the truth of these principles that it is not necessary to enlarge upon them. The attainment of harmony, good order, and beauty is not a question of money cost, for in the end good buildings are far cheaper than bad buildings. What is required is enlightened understanding and competent planning; the great buildings of the world are simple and inexpensive when compared with many of the over elaborate structures of the present day; but for centuries they have served their important purposes and the people will not give them up, because they have become part and parcel of their life. They typify the permanence of the city, they record its history, and express its aspirations. Such a group of buildings as Chicago should and may possess would be for all time to come a distinction to the city. It would be what the Acropolis was to Athens, or the Forum to Rome, and what St. Mark’s Square is to Venice,—the very embodiment of civic life. Land should be acquired in quantity sufficient to carry out a plan commensurate with Chicago’s needs, and with her dominating position in this region. This plan first should be worked out by the architects, and then should be realized by the concerted action of the community. Important as is the civic center considered by itself, when taken in connection with this plan of Chicago it becomes the keystone of the arch. The development of Halsted Street, and Ashland and Michigan avenues, flanked by the great thoroughfares of Chicago Avenue and Twelfth Street, will give form to the business center; while the opening of Congress Street as the great central axis of the city will at once create coherence in the city plan. Nowhere else on this continent does there exist so great a possibility combined with such ease of attainment. Simply by an intelligent handling of the changes necessary to accommodate the growing business of Chicago, a city both unified and beautiful will result. The Lake front will be opened to those who are now shut away from it by lack of adequate approaches; the great masses of people which daily converge in the now congested center will be able to come and go quickly and without discomfort; the intellectual life of the city will be stimulated by institutions grouped in Grant Park; and in the center of all the varied activities of Chicago will rise the towering dome of the civic center, vivifying and unifying the entire composition. [Illustration: CXL. STUDY FOR THE DOME OF THE PROPOSED CIVIC CENTER. From a study by F. Janin. COPYRIGHT, 1909, BY COMMERCIAL CLUB OF CHICAGO ] FOOTNOTES: