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included in the Institution's FY 1980 budget request to Congress. The design and construction of the building is being supervised by the General Services Administration.

The Museum Support Center will provide approximately 243,000 square feet of usable space. The collections component will be a one-story building with an approximate ceiling height of 25 feet and 144,000 square feet of space for storage and management of collections. As a part of building planning, the architects (Metcalf/KCF) have reviewed alternatives for storage of collections, and a decision has been made to use fixed cabinets to support three levels of storage. This approach exploits the vertical space available in the collections storage building (902,000 cubic feet) and is the most efficient and lowest cost per cubic foot alternative. It is presently estimated that substantial funding will be needed over the next five or more years for purchase of storage and laboratory equipment. Further details on operating budget requirements, equipment costs, etc., including the establishment of a conservation training program, are included in other sections of this plan.

The Center will provide about 99,000 useable square feet of space for research and study of the collections to be housed there. Some laboratory, office, and storage space will be used by the Smithsonian Oceanographic Sorting Center as an alternative to continuing to occupy expensive leased space in the Washington Navy Yard, and place the Sorting Center in a more appropriate location adjacent to related program elements of the Museum of Natural History. Also, the Conservation component of the Center will include a collections receiving and fumigation unit, a conservation information referral center, space for the treatment of objects and research on conservation techniques, and a major facility for training staff and visiting interns in the theoretical and practical conservation skills. Locating these facilities in the Center in proximity to the processing and conservation laboratories of the Department of Anthropology and the Oceanographic Sorting Center will greatly strengthen the Institution's overall capability in research, training, and treatment.

Building facilities for shipping and receiving, packing and crating, registration, library, photography, fumigation, and distribution will be incorporated into the Center. Coordination of these activities will provide the Institution with a well-planned facility that will assure greater safety for objects in movement and storage.

The Institution has acquired 82 acres of government-owned land adjacent to its present 21-acre facility at the Suitland Federal Center, and has secured approvals from the National Capital Planning Commission and local boards and commissions for construction of a Museum Support Center at this site. Also, preliminary plans have been reviewed and approved by the National Capital Planning Commission and final plans and specifications are scheduled to be completed in December 1979. An environmental impact statement, showing no negative effects, has been prepared

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