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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION   1556

Board of Regents, as recorded in the minutes of the Regents meeting on May 4, 1960. He added that the Board of Regents holds approval authority and that the Joint Congressional Committee is authorized to advise the Board of Regents and to report to the Congress on the planning and construction of the building.

Dr. Brown said that the Board should utilize all of the funds available in order to obtain all desirable features possible for the new building. The Chancellor said that he thought no more changes should be made that would cause further delay in completion.

Senator Anderson agreed that the available funds should be used to obtain as good a building as possible but he opposed giving additional work to Norair unless Norair agrees that no delay in completion would result. He suggested using other contractors for such additional work.

Dr. Hunsaker asked if some features could be omitted to hasten construction. Senator Anderson said he thought not.

Mr. Bow said the main consideration is to build the best building possible and that no deadline should affect the ultimate building.

Senator Anderson agreed that the Regents want a good building and said he had cautioned the Secretary to keep a financial reserve so that as the building nears completion, any essential feature which might have been overlooked could be financed.

Dr. Hunsaker asked how effective the Smithsonian could be when General Services Administration is in charge of construction. Senator Anderson replied that the General Services Administrator would be responsive to the views of the Board.

The Secretary suggested he draft a letter to the General Services Administration, to be approved by Senator Anderson, stating that no further extra work is to be undertaken if it means additional time for completion. The letter would provide that if change orders were undertaken, delays would be the complete responsibility of the contractor. Secondly, the practicability of having necessary change orders performed by other contractors could be explored. Thirdly, in regard to other major changes, the letter would state that they

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