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July 27, 1979

Honorable Sidney R. Yates
Chairman
Subcommittee on the Interior
Committee on Appropriations
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Mr. Chairman:

On behalf of the Smithsonian's Regents and its staff I wish to thank you and your colleagues for the thoughtful consideration you have given the programs of the Institution and the generous support you have provided for the coming fiscal year. Your judicious hearings and carefully considered appropriations across the years have strengthened the Smithsonian and we are indeed grateful. I also appreciate the kind words you had for the Smithsonian in the report of the Committee on Appropriations, especially for our collections management efforts.

In regard to the Quadrangle project, I am pleased to report that, with the signing by the President of S. 927 last Friday, July 20, the funds for planning of the Quadrangle development are now authorized.

The Committee's report indicated a feeling that we have not addressed in sufficient detail either the cost estimates or the programmatic plans proposed thus far for the Quadrangle. I regret that we failed to make this clear at the hearing and would take this opportunity to offer more complete information. The $60 million cost estimate presented in the fiscal 1980 budget justification was developed nearly a year ago as an approximation -- a "guesstimate" really-- to allow that document to meet the Office of Management and Budget's fall deadline. Prior to the hearing before your subcommittee further studies were undertaken by architectural and construction consultants resulting in a preliminary estimate, stated in 1983 dollars, of $49.1 million. A breakdown of that estimate, subject