Viewing page 22 of 95

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

20
of the project by the Congress; the authorization for the removal of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology building from the site and its reconstruction at Walter Reed Hospital; and successive appropriations for planning and construction now totaling $15,000,000. In addition, Mr. Hirshhorn has agreed to give $1,000,000 for construction if needed. Meanwhile, we have exhorted the General Services Administration to press the contractor for better progress in numerous conferences, both at the highest level and at the job level.
More recently, the Acting Administrator of the General Services Administration, and the Deputy Commissioner of the Public Buildings Service, met with Assistant Director of the Office of Management and Budget Paul O'Neill and his assistant, Mr. Dean Anderson, in confrontation of the need to improve immediately the inadequate progress of the job. This confrontation was in response to the Secretary's urgent appeal to the White House that they intervene in aid of the project.
We have been assured by the Office of Management and Budget orally that they are going to demand that the contractor put on extra shifts of workers to accelerate progress.
Should the building not be completed within the terms of the agreement, it would become necessary that the agreement again be negotiated with Mr. Hirshhorn to extend the period of the agreement to the completion date. Otherwise, the Institution would be without express notice to proceed with preparations for the opening exhibition and the expenses of administering the museum.