Worcester Polytechnic Institute to the material interests of the city
and county." He also granted to the Institute at the end of twenty
years the right to erect an attractive educational building on a
portion of this park, facing its present property and covering an area
200 by 150 feet in dimensions.
From time to time Mr. Salisbury gave funds for beautifying the
park. He provided the stone wall around the pond, the winding drives,
the boathouse, pavilion and bandstand. In 1892 he had an arch bridge
built from the northwest shore to the island. It was later partially
destroyed by fire, then removed. He also built an artistic
reproduction of the old "Norse" tower at Newport, on a high point of
land opposite the Institute campus.
The Salisbury Laboratories were expected to provide ample facilities
for a long time in the future, yet within four years after they were
occupied the Mechanical Engineering department was seeking more
space. On petition of Professor Alden, the trustees' committees on
Mechanics and Current Expenses studied the needs of this
department. Mr. Washburn, reporting for the committee in June, 1893,
recommended that a new building be provided and that the Institute
acquire some neighboring water power for making tests of hydraulic
machinery. An alternative suggestion was that the Salisbury
Laboratories might be enlarged.
Later in the same year a special committee submitted a detailed plan
for the enlargement of facilities, with drawings of proposed
buildings. The trustees approved the general plan, and discussed means
of securing funds for its execution. The best solution appeared to be
to memorialize the Legislature for a gift of $100,000. Judge Aldrich,
Mr. Lincoln, and Mr. Hoar were given the task of submitting the
Institute case. A committee, consisting of Morgan, Whitcomb, Washburn,
and Salisbury, was given full power to perfect plans and secure
estimates for erecting an engineering laboratory, power house, and
hydraulic testing plant.
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