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108 Lab building at Fort Stanton Park. An amount of $450,000 is being requested in FY 1984 for this purpose. Planning for a new and modern museum building of about 30,000 square feet will be started during this planning period. At this time, this project is tentatively scheduled for FY 1988 at an estimated cost of $5,000,000. [[underlined]] Astrophysical Observatory (Whipple Observatory [[/underlined]] Further development of facilities at the Whipple Observatory near Tucson, Arizona, is required to support expanded research activities associated with the installation of the Multiple Mirror Telescope. Conversion of the single-land unpaved access road into a safe, insloped, all-weather road is well under way and will be completed during FY 1983. The only road areas to be paved are those portions abutting observational facilities in order to minimize the amount of dust raised by vehicular traffic. Because of the favorable construction market in the southwest, the insloped road will be completed under budget. This will enable reprogramming of current remaining R&R road funds to accelerate the renovation of the emergency power station by one year. Completion of this project is expected to begin in FY 1983. Research activities of the Whipple Observatory are conducted on a 4,744-acre site at the 7,600-foot level of Mount Hopkins which is leased from the U.S. Forest Service and reached by a limited-access secondary road that originates at the headquarters location in Amado, Arizona. The headquarters site is midway between the cities of Tucson in the north and Nogales in the south and offers easy access from a nearby interstate highway for visitors and for the delivery of research equipment and supplies. On the property is a one-level school building and a residence which have been converted to office use. There are also various automotive service, repair, and storage buildings with gravel parking and driveway areas, as well as space for a motor pool which provides daily access to the mountain site, continual road maintenance, and winter snow removal. The school building serves as the base office and staging area for mountain research activities, and includes a small, informal Visitors' Center which has been remodeled to include displays on the history of astronomy and audiovisual presentations describing Smithsonian research. The Observatory is seeking to purchase two acres of land from the Tucson School District in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, and two acres of adjacent land from private owners for a total price not exceeding $150,000. The four acres will be used for the headquarters of the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory which has occupied the property under a lease arrangement for the past thirteen years. Smithsonian ownership of the property would allow the erection over several years of facilities in a planned and coordinated fashion that would respect the integrity of the neighboring community and protect the local
