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103

FACILITIES PLANNING, RENOVATION, RESTORATION, AND CONSTRUCTION

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The Smithsonian's responsibility for its facilities and the activities they house requires a continuing program of repairs and maintenance (some of which is accomplished by staff with funds provided in operating budgets), renovations and restorations, and new construction.  The objectives of this program are to provide appropriate, safe, and accessible facilities for research, education, and care of collections.  Federal appropriations are the primary source of funds for this work,  but, starting with the funding of the original Smithsonian Institution Building, other sources of funds have at various times become available for particular projects.

The Institution's buildings and other facilities consist of 11 museum and gallery buildings in Washington, D.C. and New York City housing research and collections management activities and a wide range of exhibitions in the fields of science, history, technology and art.  Also included are the Zoological Park in Rock Creek Valley and its Animal Conservation and Research Center near Front Royal, Virginia; the Radiation Biology Laboratory in Rockville, Maryland; the preservation, storage, and air and spacecraft display facility at Suitland, Maryland (also the site of the planned Museum Support Center); a conference center near Elkridge, Maryland; centers for biological research, conservation, and education in Panama and on the Chesapeake Bay, near Annapolis, Maryland; an oceanographic research station at Fort Pierce, Florida; a center for astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and an observatory on Mt. Hopkins, near Tucson, Arizona; and a number of administrative, storage, reference, distribution, and other supportive facilities primarily in leased space.

In addition to Museum Support Center completion,  development of the Quadrangle south of the Smithsonian Building to provide a permanent Mall building for the Museum of African Art and additional resources for the Freer Gallery remain a major focus of the Institution's construction program for the next five years.  The National Zoological Park redevelopment program, as well as Front Royal Conservation Center improvements, will continue to be emphasized during FY 1981-1985.

In FY 1981-1985, the Institution will emphasize repair and upgrading of existing buildings with special attention to completing major projects involving fire detection and suppression; exterior facade and roof repairs; upgrading of temperature and humidity control systems; continuing repair and improvement programs for research facilities at Mt. Hopkins, Panama,