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cannot be accommodated in the Tariff building. The Commission has long desired to consolidate their staff in another downtown building, but they have been unable to identify an appropriate facility. Presently, the General Services Administration is developing plans for upgrading the Tariff building. This project, estimated to cost about $6 million, was authorized by Congress several years ago and is now apparently being pursued in lieu of relocating the U. S. International Trade Commission.

The neighboring old Patent Office Building (which is connected to the Tariff building by a tunnel), now the Fine Arts and Portrait Galleried (FAPG), was transferred to the Smithsonian in 1958. The General Services Administration at the time declared that it was inappropriate to renovate this landmark building for office use and recommended that the building be restored and used the Smithsonian for public purposes. The building was opened to the public in 1968 as the home of the National Collection of Fine Arts and the National Portrait Gallery.

The Archives of American Art (founded in 1954) joined the Smithsonian in May 1970 and moved to the FAPG building, completing what is now a unique center for the exhibition and study of American art and American art history. The intervening years witnessed singular scholarly and public interest and use of the FAPG library, archives, study collections, and exhibits. The same scholarly and public recognition has qualified these programs as potential recipients of major works and collections of American art. The expanding