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

Mr. Ripley referred to the following reports on the status of the Museum Support Center which had been distributed in advance of the meeting:

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[[underlined]] Design Status. [[/underlined]] The architects, Metcalf/KCF, have completed approximately 50% of the working drawings and expect to have the entire contract package finished around mid-May. The General Services Administration plans to advertise the construction contract in June and anticipates ground breaking in November and completion by late 1982. The General Services Administration also is working to develop performance specifications for the collections storage equipment.

[[underlined]] Hearings. [[/underlined]] A cross-section model of a collections storage bay, demonstrating the proposed equipment and how collections would be organized, was presented at appropriations hearings in the House on March 12. The Institution is requesting $2.5 million in FY 1981 to begin equipping the Center.

[[underlined]] Collections Equipment. [[/underlined]] In late January, Mr. Ripley requested a complete inventory of all storage equipment presently in use at the Museum of Natural History to determine what portion of this equipment could be safely used at the Support Center. Three outside museum experts were asked to review this inventory, to examine storage conditions at the Museum, and to render an independent opinion on the advisability of moving present storage cases to Suitland.

Following a thorough executive review and analysis of the storage equipment proposal, including the independent report and a presentation to the Secretary, it was decided that, while selectively some present storage units at the National Museum of Natural History might be used temporarily