Viewing page 39 of 119

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

-37-

[[underlined]]Proposed Re-study of Underground Parking on the Mall[[/underlined]]

The Mall Project of the National Park Service removed the parking and traffic from Adams and Washington Drives and focused attention on the needs for adequate parking accommodations for the SI.

Although some planning has been done to try to alleviate the visitor parking shortage for 1976 by the use of fringe parking lots at RFK Stadium and the North Lot of the Pentagon, these alternatives have not been tested and may prove less effective than the planners anticipate.  Further, these plans are short term and intended only for 1976.

From all indications, visitation to our museums will continue at a high level and most likely increase in future years.  Since the shortage of adequate and convenient parking has a direct and adverse impact upon our visitation as well as the conduct of SI activities, it seems important to exert all possible efforts toward more useful solutions than others are now proposing.

One practical approach to a major improvement in convenient parking involves the construction of underground garages.  In 1971, Wilbur Smith and Associates conducted a study and prepared