Viewing page 5 of 160

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

-iv-

Center and visit research operations -- and he encouraged the Regents to accompany him.

Mr. Adams mentioned that the Barney Studio House is currently underutilized and in need of rehabilitation estimated to cost up to $1.5 million. The Secretary has requested several professional appraisals and will come back to the Regents with accurate information on what the realistic circumstances of the structure are, including the legalities and fiscal consequences of renovation and/or sale of the property.

The Secretary noted that [[underlined]] Air & Space [[/underlined]] magazine has reached the point where it continues to show a deficit in terms of the standards of accrual accounting but it now has a positive cash flow to meet its fiscal obligations. The Secretary joins the editor and publisher of the magazine as well as the Director of the National Air and Space Museum in being optimistic that in the long run the magazine will succeed.

Mr. Adams indicated that a new temporary exhibition called "Dinosaurs: Alive and in Color" will be coming to the National Museum of Natural History. Because the exhibition is available only for rent, the Smithsonian plans to charge a nominal admission fee, much in the way it charges for admission to the IMAX theater and planetarium in the National Air and Space Museum without charging for admission to the rest of the museum. There will be periodic free days and other provisions made for school groups. It is the Secretary's view that charging for admission to these special attractions does not violate the position recently reaffirmed by the Regents that the Smithsonian museums should be open to the public free of charge.

Mr. Adams reported that the Visiting Committee of the Freer Gallery of Art adopted a resolution calling for the resources to complete the renovation and reopening of the Gallery, including funding for the reinstallation of the collections. Citing the difficulty of committing resources that far in advance, the Secretary indicated the Smithsonian will do all it can to bring the Freer back to its accustomed level of visual splendor.

Referring to the December 1989 report of the Committee on Government Operations, "The Challenge of Cultural Diversity and Cultural Equity at the Smithsonian Institution," Mr. Adams noted that the Institution's responses to the Committee's recommendations will be forwarded to the Committee in early February. The central recommendation calls for the appointment of an assistant to the Secretary with a mandate to obtain cultural diversity in the Smithsonian's work force and on its many boards and to integrate African-American, Asian-American, Hispanic, and Native American collections, research, and public programming throughout all of the Smithsonian's bureaus and offices. Mr. Adams expects to satisfy this primary recommendation in appointing an acting Assistant Secretary for Public Service in early February.

Assistant Secretary for Research Robert Hoffmann reported on a recent approach from the University of Southwestern Louisiana to join in a consortium to establish a marine and coastal laboratory there which would complement the work currently undertaken by the Smithsonian at Fort Pierce, Florida, in Belize and Carrie Bow Cay, and in Panama. It is too early to tell how this proposal might take shape in an appeal for funding.

Transcription Notes:
Page 5 and Page 22 are duplicates. Page 5 was transcribed and then pasted into page 22.