Existing comment:
Construction Begins:
While Gilbert finalized the plans, Chief Justice Taft's health was deteriorating. He retired on February 3, 1930. His successor, Charles Evans Hughes, was confirmed by the Senate and sworn in as Chief Justice in three weeks. Taft died on March 8 at the age of 73, and while his body lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda, Gilbert's plaster model of the building that Taft had envisioned was exhibited nearby. On April 1, 1930, the government gave notice to all tenants living on the site to vacate, and by the end of the year the site was cleared. In November 1931, the George A. Fuller Company, of Chicago, Illinois, was awarded the main construction contract with a low bid of $8,383,000. The plans called for the use of large quantities of marble from Vermont, Georgia and Alabama. To give the Courtroom distinction, the architects selected imported marble from Italy, Spain, and Algeria. |