Chapter 313. To provide for the erection of a public building at Indianapolis, Indiana
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CHAP. 313.— An Act To provide for the erection of a public building at Indianapolis, Indiana. March 1, 1899. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, * Indianapolis, Ind.Public building authorized. That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to acquire, by purchase, condemnation, or otherwise, a site, and cause to be erected thereon a suitable building, including fireproof vaults, heating and ventilating apparatus, elevators, and approaches, for the use and accommodation of the United States post-office, court-house, custom house, internal-revenue office, pension office, and other Government offices in Limit of cost.the city of Indianapolis and State of Indiana, the cost of said site and building, including said vaults, heating and ventilating apparatus, elevators, and approaches, complete, not to exceed the sum of one million five hundred thousand dollars.
Proposals for site, etc.Proposals for the sale of land suitable for said site shall be invited by public advertisement in one or more of the newspapers of said city of largest circulation for at least twenty days prior to the date specified in said advertisement for the opening of said proposals. Proposals made in response to said advertisement shall be addressed and mailed to the Secretary of the Treasury, who shall then cause the said proposed sites, and such others as he may think proper to designate, to be examined in person by an agent of the Treasury Department, FIFTY-FIFTH CONGRESS.
Sess. III. Ch. 313. 1899. 917 who shall make written report to said Secretary of the results of said examination, and of his recommendation thereon, and the reasons therefor, which shall be accompanied by the original proposals and all maps, plats, and statements which shall have come into his possession relating to the said proposed sites. If, upon consideration of said report and accompanying papers, theCommission to investigate sites. Secretary of the Treasury shall deem further investigation necessary, he may appoint a commission of not more than three persons, one of whom shall be an officer of the Treasury Department, which commission shall also examine the said proposed sites, and such others as the Secretary of the Treasury may designate, and grant such hearings in relation thereto as they shall deem necessary: and said commission shall,Report. within thirty days after such examination, make to the Secretary of the Treasury written report of their conclusions in the premises, accompanied by all statements, maps, plats, or documents taken by or submitted to them in like manner as hereinbefore provided in regard to the proceedings of said agent of the Treasury Department; and the SecretaryDetermination. of the Treasury shall thereupon finally determine the location of the building to be erected.
The compensation of said commissioners shall be fixed by the SecretaryCompensation. of the Treasury, but the same shall not exceed six dollars per day and actual traveling expenses: *Provided, however,* That the member of*Proviso.*—of treasury member. said commission appointed from the Treasury Department shall be paid only his actual traveling expenses. No money appropriated for the purposes of carrying out the provisionsTitle, etc. of this Act shall be available, except for the purposes of paying for the preliminary expenses of acquiring title to a site and preparing plans and specifications for a building, until a valid title to the site for said building shall be vested in the United States, nor until the State of Indiana shall have ceded to the United States exclusive jurisdiction over the same, during the time the United States shall be or remain the owner thereof, for all purposes except the administration of the criminal laws of said State and the service of civil process therein.
The building shall be unexposed to danger from fire by an open spaceFire space. of at least forty feet on each side, including streets and alleys. Sec. 2. That if, in the judgment of the Secretary of the Treasury, itPurchase of ground adjoining present site authorized, etc. shall be deemed in the best interest and economy of the public service, he is hereby authorized and directed, in lieu of the provisions of section one of this Act, to purchase, at a cost not exceeding two hundred thousand dollars, fifteen thousand two hundred square feet of ground adjoining the present site, and to cause the present United States court-house and post-office and other buildings to be torn down and removed, and to cause to be erected on the site of said buildings, with the additional ground purchased, a new public building for the use and accommodation of the Government offices, upon sketch plans, drawings, and detailed estimates to be prepared and approved as specified in said section one of this Act, at a cost not exceeding said sum of one million five hundred thousand dollars.
Sec. 3. That in the event a site shall be purchased as provided forSale of present site. by section one of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he hereby is, authorized and directed to sell, for the highest and best bid obtainable after advertising said sale for at least twenty days immediately preceding in at least two daily papers published in the city of Indianapolis, Indiana, and upon such terms of payment as said Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe, the real estate now known as the Indianapolis, Indiana, post office site, comprising the real estate, with all buildings thereon situated, now owned and occupied by the United States Government, and located on Pennsylvania and Market streets, in the city of Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana.
And the SecretaryDisposition of proceeds. of the Treasury is hereby authorized and directed to apply the proceeds derived from said sale toward the payment for the purchase of the site provided for in section one of this Act; and the sum of one 918 FIFTY-FIFTH CONGRESS. Sess. III. Chs. 313–316. 1899. million five hundred thousand dollars in this Act authorized, together with the unexpended balance, if any, of the proceeds derived from the sale of the present site, may be expended in the construction of the building as provided for in section one of this Act.
Approved, March 1, 1899.