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road design is expected to be completed in March, and road construction should begin by late summer. Design of the Base Camp is scheduled to be finished by July, and completion of the Base Camp is scheduled for December 1990. Construction of the Mathias Laboratory at the Environmental Research Center has been finished. The contractor is expected to finish balancing the air system in early March and final acceptance of the Lab is anticipated by March 31. A dedication will be scheduled for later in the spring.

The replacement of the terrace surface of the National Air and Space Museum is 75% complete, and the project is expected to be completed by May 1989. The PCB transformer replacement project is 95% complete and is on schedule for a September 1989 completion, a full year before the Environmental Protection Agency deadline for removal of PCBs from Federal buildings.

An architect/engineering firm has been selected, subject to negotiating a satisfactory contact, to prepare a site evaluation study and master plan for the National Air and Space Museum Extension to be located either at Dulles International Airport or Baltimore-Washington International Airport. A summary of the preliminary findings of the site evaluation study, together with financial  analyses, will be available in September 1989; a complete site evaluation report will be available in December 1989. The development of a detailed Master Plan is scheduled to begin in March 1990.

The renovation of the Research Facility for the National Zoological Park is expected to be completed in the spring. A portion of the third phase of the Olmsted Walk project was opened in February, and the balance of the work is scheduled for completion in June. Renovation of the Elephant House is 80% complete and scheduled for completion in March 1989.

[[underlined]] Quadrangle Enhancements for Accessibility [[/underlined]]

The Institution has retained Sultan, Campbell and Associates, a local architectural firm, to examine the pavilion entrance in collaboration with museum staff and Shepley, Bulfinch architect J. P. Carlhian and to make design recommendations to improve accessibility. At this time, there is agreement to enlarge the small vestibules between doors by approximately two and a half feet and to experiment with alternate door hardware. If the door tension cannot be reduced to approximately five pounds of pull by substituting hardware, it may be necessary to redesign the entire entrance door assemblage. All design work is expected to be completed in sixty days, at which point corrective work can be contracted.

An earlier review of the Haupt Garden gravel paths concluded that initial efforts to improve the path surfaces for better accessibility should give priority to the area at the Renwick Gates leading to both pavilion entrances and along the west side of the Arts & Industries building from Independence Avenue to the east door of the Castle. A very preliminary paving plan was prepared by Mr. Carlhian and circulated to the other Garden Committee members including Mrs. Haupt, Mr. Ripley, and horticultural consultant Lester Collins. There has been no subsequent action because of the likelihood that the paths would receive heavy use this spring resulting from efforts to improve soil conditions and replace selected plant material. It is therefore likely that no work can begin on the paths until next fall.