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will be incorporated into the Center. Coordination of these activities will provide the Institution with a well-planned facility that will assure greater saftey for objects in movement and storage.

Curerntly, an invitation for construction bids was issued on July 28 for the Museum Support Center, and it is expected that a construction contract wil be awarded by the General Services Administration soon after October 1, 1980. It is anticipated that construction work can begin in November 1980, and that it will be completed in approximately  two years.

Details on Museum Support Center operating budget requirements, equipment costs, etc., including the establishment of a conservation training program, are included in the Special Programs, Museum Programs and Administration sections of this plan.

[[underlined]] Quadrangle Development [[/underlined]]

Legislation, P.L. 96-36, that authorized planning for development of the Quadrangle was enacted and signed by the President on July 20, 1979. Development of the Quadrangle, an area of approximately 4.2 acres bounded by the Smithsonian Building, the Arts & Industries Building, the Freer Gallery of Art, and Independance Avenue, is chiefly to enhance Eastern and African art for scholarly and public benefit. Estimated to cost about $49,110,000, the Quadrangle project represents a special partnership between government and private sponsors.

The Freer Gallery of Art holds one of the world’s great collections of the art of China, Japan, and other cultures of South and East Asia. Part of the Smithsonian since 1906, the Freer Gallery will become the nucleus of a larger center for Eastern art. The new center will ensure regular displays drawn from rich holdings of Eastern art in private and public collections in the United States, and will also enable the Smithsonian to serve as host for special exhibitions sponsored by the government of Eastern nations. In keeping with the tradition of scholarly excellence at the Freer, another principal activity of the new center will be research related to the cultures and artifacts encompassed by its collections. The Quadrangle project will provide greatly expanded facilities for individual research, and the center will offer a wide range of educational services to the public. Since its creation in 1951, the Freer Gallery’s conservation laboratory has been one of the outstanding centers in the world for technical research related to the materials and methods of ancient craftsmen. In addition, specialists in the Freer’s art studio are engaged in the practical aspects of cleaning, repairing, restoring, and remounting painted scrolls and screens. Unique for almost half a century in the West, this studio at the Freer is matched even now by only two other institutions outside of Asia. With the considerable amount of sensitive an specialized equipment already in place, and with the additional space and improved work areas to be provided by the Quadrangle project, the art studio and the conservation laboratory will be able to attend to new collections, as well as accommodate the growing number of qualified conservators who come to the Freer seeking advanced training and experience.