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the shop, and to prepare plans for such a structure. The preface of
their report made apparent the need for more floor space. The original
area, 13,000 square feet, was found to be inadequate within six years
after the Institute opened. The wings at either end, built in 1880,
increased the space to 21,000 square feet and provided for 100
students. Now there were 184 boys to be accommodated and provision
should be made for 260. Hence the committee proposed the construction
of another addition at the north end of the building which would
increase the shop floor area by 19,000 square feet.
Plans for this building, prepared by Earle & Fisher, showed a
structure of the familiar mill type to conform with the original
building. It was to be 100 feet long, 50 feet wide, and three stories
in height, with a square tower on the east end. The cost was estimated
to be $25,000, including equipment, and the committee proposed that
this sum be borrowed by the treasurer. After an unsuccessful attempt
by the shop opposition to table this proposal, the trustees voted to
go ahead with it. The money was borrowed from the St. Wulstan Society
of Worcester, and the construction was completed early in the fall of
1892. The definite improvement in business of the shops during the
early 'nineties made possible the payment of $15,000 of the loan in
1894. The balance was paid in 1897.
The early conception of the Institute as a glorified trade school,
from which Worcester manufacturers were to recruit skilled mechanics,
was soon dispelled. Many industrial leaders were secretly displeased
by the conversion of Ichabod Washburn's original plan into something
of a higher grade. They still wanted a trade school, and for many
years they clung to the belief that such a school might be established
as an adjunct to the Institute.
The Worcester Mechanics' Association took the first step in this
direction, proposing to the Institute trustees that a vocation school
in woodwork and the use of tools be conducted at the Washburn Shops,
for a period of four weeks. The
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