296 REPORT OP NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1903. 



Ninth and Twelftli streets northwest, suljstantially in accordance with the Plan A, 

 prei)ared and .submitted to Congress by the Secretary of the Smitlisonian Institution 

 under tlie {)r()visions of the act approved June twenty-eighth, nineteen hundred and 

 two, two hundred and lifty thousand dollars. 8aid building com2:)lete, including 

 heating and ventilating apparatus and elevators, shall cost not to exceed three million 

 live hundred thousand dollars, and a contract or contracts for its completion is hereby 

 authorized to be entered into subject to appropriations to be made by Congress. 

 The construction shall he in charge of Bernard R. Green, Superintendent of Build- 

 ings and Grounds, Lil)rary of Congress, wlio shall make the contracts herein author- 

 ized and disburse all aj)propriations made for the work, and shall rec^eive as full 

 compensation for liis services hereunder the sum of two thousand dollars annually 

 in addition to his present salary, to be paid out of said appropriations. 



At a meeting- of the Board of Keg'ents on March 12, 1903, the passage 

 of the above act was announced, and it was resolved: 



That the Secretary, with the advice and consent of the chancellor and the chair- 

 man of the executive connnittee, be authorized to represent the Board of Regents so 

 far as may be necessary in consultation with Bernard R. Green, to whom the con- 

 struction and contracts for the new Mu.seum building are committed by Congress in 

 the act making an appropriation for that purpose. 



Some little time was consumed in the preliminar}^ arrangements, 

 which included the selection of Messrs. Hornblower & Marshall, of 

 Washington, as the architects of the building. The}^ had made the 

 lirst tentative sketches and the preliminary plans previously mentioned, 

 and it may also be said that for a number of j^ears they have acted 

 fof the Smithsonian Institution and National Museum in all matters 

 requiring architectural advice. They have likewise recently visited 

 many of the prominent museums of Europe, which has given them an 

 invalua])le experience in museimi requirements. 



At the time of writing the general plans, showing the several floors 

 and fayades, are nearing completion. 



DESCRIPTION. 



It is imposi5ible at the present time to describe more than the lead- 

 ing features of this structure, since, though work upon the foundation 

 has begun, the plans are not entirely completed. The building will 

 be rectangular in shape, and faced with granite on all sides. It will 

 liavo a length of 551 feet, a width of 318 feet, exclusive of projections, 

 and a height of stonework above the basement floor of YT feet. There 

 will be four stories including the ))asemeiit, which, beginning above 

 tiie level of the adjoining street, will be well lighted and entirely 

 available for use. Tlu> main and second stories will contain tlu^ exhibi- 

 tion collections, while the basement and upper story will l)e allotted to 

 the many other requirements of a large nuiseimi. 



In a general way it may l)e said that the building will consist pri- 

 marily of a main part in the shape of a l)i-oad T, comprising three 

 wide wings or sections diverging at right angles from a large rotunda 

 at the southern or princij)al entrance. Ranges of narrower width. 



