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

Mr. Jameson introduced the following status report which had been circulated in advance. He mentioned that bids have just been received and have not yet been fully analyzed, but it is apparent that the bids are substantially in excess of the money available to the Smithsonian for award of the contract.
Over the next several weeks the Smithsonian, the General Services Administration, and the architects/engineers will examine the total project to determine cost reductions while maintaining the integrity of the building.
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[[underlined]]Design Status.[[/underlined]] Design is now complete. Working drawings, specifications and other bidding documents have been distributed to all interested bidders. Bids are currently due on September 4, 1980 and a contract award is scheduled for October 1, 1980. Construction is expected to be complete by late 1982.

[[underlined]]Construction Costs.[[/underlined]] Institution concern over sharply increased construction costs experienced in recent months resulted in the action reflected in the attached letter which was sent to the chairmen of key Congressional committees. 

[[underlined]]Equipment for storage of collections.[[/underlined]] The Institution's staff, in conjunction with the GSA and the architectural/engineering consortium, has continued to develop the three-tiered, fixed cabinet collection storage concept for use at the Museum Support Center. Negotiations are currently under way with the materials handling consultant, FMC, for development of design and performance specifications for the collection storage system with a projected design start of early August 1980 and a completion in late June 1981.

[[underlined]]Equipment costs.[[/underlined]] Internal planning efforts to define an rank equipment and furnishing costs for the Museum Support Center are accelerating with