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-95-

This major collection storage, conservation and research center located on a one-hundred-acre tract in Prince George's County will be the focus for collection management and conservation training for many future generations of Americans.

The Smithsonian's five-year construction, repair and improvements program which follows is highlighted by an exciting proposal to develop on the Mall new buildings for Eastern and African art. In addition, major construction programs are outlined for the Radiation Biologu Laboratory, the Astrophysical Observatory at Mt. Hopkins, and the Chesapeake Bay Center.

Construction, Renovation and Restoration Summary
FY 1982 - 1986
(Appropriated and Nonappropriated)

($000s) 

Quadrangle - $47,063
Zoo (Rock Creek & Front Royal) - 35,050
Restoration and Renovation - 52,800
Other Construction - [[underlined]]25,020[[/underlined]]
[[total -$159,933

[[underlined]] Construction [[/underlined]]

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

P.L. 95-569, approved by the President on November 2, 1978, provides the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution with authority to construct museum support faciloties. Amounts of $325,000 in FY 1978 and $500,000 in FY 1979 were appropriated for planning and design. Constrution funds in the amount of $20,600,000 are included in the Institutions's FY 1980 appropriation from Congress. The design and construction of the building is being supervised by the General Services Administration and the architecht is Metcalf/KCF.

The Museum Support Center will provide approximately 251,000 square feet of usable space. The collections component will be a one-story building with an approximate ceiling height of twenty-five feet and 146,000 square feet of space for storage and management of collections, mostly for the Museum of Natural History. The Center also will provide about 105,000 usable square feet of space for research and study of the collections to be housed there. Some laboratory, office, and storage space will be used by the Smithsonina Oceanographic Sorting Center to place it in a more appropriate location adjacent to related program elements of the Museum of Natural History. Also, the Conservation component of the Center will include a collections receiving and fumigation unit, a conservation information referral center, space fpr the treatment of objects and research on conservation techniques, and a major facility for training staff and visiting interns in theoretical and practical conservation skills. In addition, building facilities for shipping and receiving, packing and crating, registration, library, photography and distribution