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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION  777 
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REPORT OF THE PERMANENT COMMITTEE.

Mr. Delano presented the following:

To the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution:

I beg your indulgence to submit a brief statement on two matters which are of sufficient importance to engage your attention.

1. [[underlined]] The Lands Occupied by the Smithsonian Institution in the Heart of the City [[/underlined]]

Of the area occupied by the original Smithsonian Building and the more recent buildings - represented by that part of The Mall between Seventh and Twelfth Streets and having an area of approximately 57 acres - about one-third, or 19 acres, is owned in fee by the Institution, and about two-thirds, or 38 acres, is owned by the Government, but assigned to the use of the Smithsonian Institution.

The Smithsonian Institution is on notice that the original l'Enfant Plan of the Federal Capital, reaffirmed by the Report of the McMillan Commission of 1901, and recently readopted by the present Park and Planning Commission, proposes to use some 500 feet of the central part of The Mall for four parallel driveways, with a wide park strip between, this, in effect, taking away from the Smithsonian Institution more than one-half the entire area in Smithsonian Park. It is assumed that no member of this Board would advocate opposing these plans of the Government, but it is equally certain that none of us ignore their effect. Evidently we must recognize the bearing of these plans on the future requirements of the Institution, especially as some of those requirements are somewhat pressing.

For example, a group of gentlemen representing the Engineering Societies of our country, came to Washington last spring to lay before your Executive Committee a project for an Industrial and Engineering Museum. They assured us that they stood ready to raise a substantial sum of money for such Museum and would provide handsomely for its endowment, provided

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