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[[underlined]] Status Reports [[/underlined]]
The Secretary summarized the following reports which had been prepared for the Regents' information.

[[underlined]] Museum Support Center [[/underlined]]

As reported in the July Newsletter, the Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate and the Committee on Public Works and Transportation of the House of Representatives adopted a resolution approving the final plans and specifications for the Museum Support Center. Since then, preliminary site and building plans for the Center were approved by the National Capital Planning Commission on June 28, 1979. It is expected that the Smithsonian's FY 1980 appropriation will include $20.6 million for construction, and that ground breaking can occur about March 1980.

Presently, the architectural/engineering firm Metcalf/KCF is developing tentative drawings which are due to be complete by mid-September. As a part of building planning, the Architect has reviewed alternatives for storage of collections, and a decision has been made to use fixed cabinets that utilize the structural members of the cabinet to support three levels of storage. This approach exploits the vertical space available in the collections storage building and is the most efficient and lowest cost per cubic foot alternative. It is presently estimated that substantial additional funding will be needed over the next five or more years as indicated in the revised Five-Year Prospectus for purchase of storage and laboratory equipment, and approximately $9 million will be sought for this purpose in Fiscal Years 1981 and 1982.

The Institution's staff also continues to be concerned about developing the energy systems of the Museum Support Center. Mr. Ripley recently met with Mr. Roland G. Freeman, III, Administrator of the General Services Administration, and suggested that the Support Center project was an appropriate, and indeed a splendid, opportunity to construct a major building in