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It appears clear that the Institution should return to a concession at NASM, and devote management attention to monitoring the concessionaire rather than operating the facility directly. Accordingly, steps will be taken in the next several months to restore all restaurant operations to concession. Early advice from the consultant is that the Institution would have greater control, as well as financial return, if all facilities were operated by one concessionaire; current concessions with the Marriott Corporation at other museums expire in 1984 and 1985, and further work is being done to determine the best method (presumably open competitive bidding) and timing to consolidate all operations under one contract.

[[underlined]] National Air and Space Museum Restaurant [[/underlined]]

Operating problems at the NASM public restaurant have been aggravated by the inadequacy of this facility to meet public demand during the high visitation periods. Located on the third floor and accessible only by elevator, the restaurant was designed to handle only half the current level of visitors.

At the request of the Secretary and the Director of NASM, Mr. Gyo Obata, architect of the building, has made some preliminary sketches of a ground floor addition on the east terrace of the building, designed to house a substantially enlarged public restaurant facility. These early drawings depict a cafeteria of some 1,000 seats and an adjoining waiter-served area of 250 seats, totaling a capacity of 1,250, some three times that of the present restaurant. A separate entrance would permit service to the public both before and after normal museum hours. It is believed that the current third floor facility could be converted into a high quality "four star" restaurant, offering a very different level of service to museum visitors