Viewing page 111 of 143

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

- 96 -

Development Strategies

At the September 17, 1990, meeting of the Board of Regents, it was noted that the staff had been investigating possibilities for securing private development as a means of financing construction of the Extension. The Board voted to encourage the Secretary to continue to explore such strategies. Although such exploration cannot be pursued comprehensively until the matter of the site has been agreed to by all parties and public programming has been more fully developed, some further work has been done with regard to Dulles. In particular, the Museum has had discussions with a sponsor of one of the pavilions at Disney's EPCOT Center in Orlando, Florida, to see whether that sponsor would be willing to pay for construction of one of the required display hangars at an Extension in exchange for name recognition for a fixed number of years, typically ten.

[[underlined]] CIRCULATING THE NATIONAL GEM COLLECTION AND RENOVATING THE GALLERY [[/underlined]]

The Secretary introduced the following paper in hopes of receiving comments from the Regents which will be helpful to the staff in carrying out a feasibility study of whether it is practical to take the treasures of the Natural History Museum's gem and mineral collection and circulate it to museums while the gallery is renovated. He emphasized that the renovation of the gallery could not proceed without substantial additional funds, such as those thought to be obtainable on a net basis for this service of circulating the exhibition. 

In discussion, several points emerged: (1) that the Hope Diamond is without question the paramount attraction of the exhibition, and, despite the fact that it will be the most difficult to insure, its inclusion in a traveling exhibition would be a requirement for the show's success; (2) since public opinion is increasingly concerned about the infusion of foreign money and influence in this country, careful thought needs to be given to any plans for circulating the exhibition abroad; (3) circulating this exhibition will be responsive to the Regents' and management's goal of bringing Smithsonian collections to wider audiences; and (4) the idea of sending an exhibition of a