The Horticultural Building stands immediately south of the entrance to Jackson Park from the Midway Plaisance, facing on the lagoon. Between it and the lagoon is a terrace devoted to out-door exhibits of flowers and plants, including large tanks for various lilies and other aquatic plants. The building is 1,000 feet long and 250 feet wide, consisting of a central pavilion with two end pavilions, each of the latter connected with the central one by front and rear curtains, forming two interior courts, each 88 by 270 feet. These courts are planted with ornamental shrubs and flowers. Over the central pavilion rises a glass dome 187 feet in diameter, and 113 feet high, under which will be exhibited the tallest palms and tree ferns that can be procured. The building will be devoted to exhibition of flowers, plants, vines, seeds, horticultural implements, and all allied objects and industries.
The enormous mining industries of America, apart from those of the rest of the world, would call for much space for their proper accommodation. The Hall of Mines and Mining stands at the southern extremity of the western lagoon, and is 700 feet long by 350 wide. Its architecture is early Italian renaissance. Within it consists of a single story surrounded by galleries 60 feet wide. There is thus a huge interior space 630 feet long and 230 feet wide, with an extreme height of 100 feet at the centre and 40 feet at the sides. It is spanned by a steel cantilever roof, abundantly lighted with glass.
The Fine Arts Building is a noble specimen of classic Grecian architecture. Its area is 500 by 320 feet, divided within by nave and transepts 100 feet wide and 70 feet high, at the intersection of which is a dome 60 feet in diameter. The top of the dome is 125 feet above the ground, and is surmounted by a colossal statue representing a Winged Victory. The building is beautifully located in the northern part of the park, the south front facing the lagoon, from which it is separated by beautiful terraces, ornamented with balustrades. A huge flight of steps leads from the main entrance down to the water’s edge. The north front faces a wide lawn and a group of State buildings. The grounds about it are richly ornamented with groups of statues, and other artistic works.