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Mr. Adams noted that on November sixth he wrote to Mr. Humelsine about this matter and sent copies of his correspondence to the Chancellor, Mr. Acheson, and Mr. Johnson. He reported that, as a result of a wide-ranging review process over a period of six weeks, he found that although it was timely for the Smithsonian to accept the space shuttle [[underlined]] Enterprise [[/underlined]] from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for the national collections, it was not in the best interests of the Institution to become a party to the interim facility proposal.

The Secretary added that in reviewing the structure proposed by the Task Force it became apparent that the financing associated with it might not be adequate for the well-constructed building the Smithsonian would require to house so important an artifact and provide basic services for the public. It also appeared that the projections of income from concessions might not be adequate to service the debt the proposal would entail. Finally, it was learned that Federal funds would not be available to support the costs of operating the facility and that its construction would be viewed as a preemption of Congressional authority to consider the matter.

Given those constraints, he said, there was no further investigation of issues such as site suitability and master planning considerations; the liability of the Institution with respect to the financing proposal of the Task Force; the precedent that an interim facility might establish; or its effect on future fund raising.

Because the details of accessioning the [[underlined]] Enterprise [[/underlined]] and of having the National Aeronautics and Space Administration deliver it to Dulles and transfer it to the Institution were compelling, the Secretary