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[[underlined]] Planning Process [[/underlined]]

A committee has been formed to search for a director of the NMAI. Chaired by Under Secretary Dean Anderson, it includes members of the Smithsonian staff, as well as individuals outside of the Institution. Of the 16 members of the committee, 11 are American Indians.

A program planning council is in the process of being organized, and an outline of program planning tasks is being prepared. Efforts are under way to secure the donation of off-Mall headquarters office space for a national campaign to raise approximately $35 million of an estimated $106 million for construction of the museum building on the Mall. It is estimated that the Custom House renovation will cost $25 million, of which $16 million has been pledged by New York City and State. The Museum Support Center component of the NMAI is estimated at $44 million, for which Federal funding will be requested.

Consideration is being given to the processes associated with the selection of architects and facilities planners to ensure that American Indian people have a significant role in that aspect of museum development. Currently it is anticipated that the goals of facility construction will be occupancy of the renovated Custom House space in 1993; occupancy of the Museum Support Center structure in 1994; and public opening of the Mall museum in 1997.

[[underlined]] Next Steps [[/underlined]]

After the authorizing and appropriations processes are complete, the Heye Foundation Trustees will move quickly to secure judicial approval of the transfer of their property to the Smithsonian. It is anticipated that at the January 1990 meeting nominations for the Board of Trustees of the NMAI will be presented to the Regents, together with a more complete program outline and a schedule of the tasks that must be accomplished.

[[underlined]] AFRICAN AMERICAN PROGRAMMING [[/underlined]]

The Secretary introduced the following paper, noting that substantive discussion of its several points had been conducted under the foregoing headings of the "Draft [[underlined]] Five-Year Prospectus... [[/underlined]]" and "Legislative Actions and Issues."

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The commitment to more multicultural programming and affirmative action continues to grow within the Institution. In addition, the project for a sustained African American presence at the Institution has made measurable progress.