A Power Station to Light Newport

The new office and sub-station building for the Northern Idaho & Montana Power Co., to be built at Washington avenue and Pine street, will be pushed to completion at once. The concrete foundations for this building have been completed by F. E. Lehmkuhl, a local contractor, and contract for the balance of the work was let on Friday, Oct. 8, to Contractor Anderson, of Sandpoint.

The building will be 25x74 feet, built of red pressed brick laid in red mortar, with cement coping and trim and terra cotta name plate. The front part of the building, 25x32, which is shown in the illustration, will be one story in height and will be used for office and display room purposes, will be plastered, trimmed with fir finish stained a dark oak, fir floors. Bank fixtures will be installed. Two plate glass display windows, one fronting Pine street and one fronting Washington avenue, will be used for the display of the latest lighting and heating fixtures and appliances. Both the windows and office room will be illuminated with tungsten lamps, while the exterior will be lighted by means of ornamental fixtures placed one on each side of the main doorway. A tungsten lamp will be maintained over the Pine street entrance. Additional exterior illumination will be furnished by two signs, one to be placed across the sidewalk in front of the building, the other to be placed on the roof of the rear portion of the building, which will be used as a sub-station.

The sub-station part of the building will be built entirely of brick, with reinforced concrete roof and floors supported on steel I beams, which will be entirely covered with concrete as a fire protective measure. The use of wire glass in the windows makes this portion of the building absolutely fireproof, while the parapet walls provided around the entire building will make it an excellent stop in case of a serious conflagration. In the machinery room will be installed three transformers with a capacity of 150 kw each, for transforming the high tension current to a voltage suitable for general distribution throughout the town for lighting and power purposes. Necessary oil switches to control this current, lightning protection consisting of aluminum cell arresters of modern design, switchboards for controlling the local system, street lighting machinery, etc., will be installed in this room.

As a further protective measure all the interior wiring for lighting and power purposes within the building will be carried in fibre-lined metal conduit, which will be placed in the concrete roofs and brick walls. The entire wiring system will be controlled from one main switchboard, on which board will be installed switches controlling each light or group of lights.

The building will be heated by a hot air furnace, which will be placed in the basement under the office portion of the building.

No expense has been spared to make this building fireproof and permanent, and with the type of furnishings to be used the building, both inside and out, will be an ornament to the town.

The total cost of the building, with machinery and furnishings, will approximate $15,000.

Approximately one-half of the transmission line from Sandpoint to Newport has been completed. Work on the balance of the line and also on the building will be pushed to completion, and it is expected that both will be completed within ninety days, after which time 24-hour service will be maintained in Newport. Work on the transmission line has been delayed by the company's inability to secure delivery on the material required, but as all material has now been delivered and all necessary right-of-way secured, it is hoped that no further delays will be experienced.

Plans for the new power house and sub station at Sandpoint will be completed within a few days, construction will begin at once and work continued until these buildings have been completed. For this power house the company has purchased two Stirling water tube boilers, each of 300 H. P. capacity, a 750 H. P. engine with direct connected generator, and all other machinery necessary. Upon the completion of the Sandpoint power house, the company will have installed sufficient power to furnish double the amount now required by Sandpoint and Newport.

Plans for the water power development are about complete, and actual construction work will begin within 60 days. This work will be continued throughout the winter, and it is hoped to have the power completed and in operation within eighteen months.