REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 5 



[Senate Mis. Doc. No. 116, Fifty-first Congress, first session.] 



LETTER OF THE SECRETARY OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION IN RELATION TO A 

 BUILDING FOR THE ACCOMMODATION OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Smithsonian Institution, 

 United States National Museum, 



Washington, January 21, 1890. 



Sm : I seud you herewith a set of sketchplaus intended to show, in 

 a general way, the extent and character of a building such as would 

 seem to be necessary for the accommodation of the Museum collections 

 in the present and immediate future, and respectfully request for them 

 your attention, and a recommendation to Congress of the necessary 

 means for such a building. 



These plans and sketclies are provisional, but although not presented 

 in detail, they represent the results of studies, extending over many 

 years, of the plans of the best modern museum buildings in Europe and 

 America, nearly all of which have been inspected by officers of the 

 Smithsonian Institution, 



The proposed building covers the same area as that finished in 1881. 

 It is intended to consist of two stories and a basement, except in the 

 central portion, which consists of one lofty hall open from the main floor 

 to the roof, the height of which will be 90 feet, galleries being placed 

 on the level of the second floor in other- parts of the building. Its inte- 

 rior arrangements are, as you will see, different from those in the actual 

 Museum, all the changes having been planned in the light of the expe- 

 rience of nine years' occupation of the present building. It will afford 

 between two and three times as much available space for exhibition 

 and storage under the same area of roof. The fifteen exhibition halls 

 are completely isolated from each other, and may readily besubdivided, 

 when necessary, into smaller rooms. The lighting will be as good as 

 in the old building, and the ventilation perhaps still better. The sani- 

 tary arrangements have been carefully considered. 



The necessity for a basement is especially great. In this, place has 

 been provided for many storage rooms and workshops. The existence 

 of a basement will promote the comfort and health of visitors and em- 

 ployes, and by increasing the dryness of the air in the exhibition halls, 

 will secure the better ])reservation of the collections. These proposed 

 changes in the internal arrangements will not interfere with conformity 

 with the other points of the present Museum building in the essential 

 features of exterior i)roportion. The total capacity of this present 

 building in available floor space is about 100,000 square feet; that of 

 the new building somewhat exceeds 200,000. The present Museum 

 building contains about 80,000 feet of floor space available for exhibi- 

 tion. That proposed will contain about 103,300 square feet for exhibi- 

 tion. The space devoted to offices and laboratories would not be much 

 more, but the area available for exhibition halls, storage rooms, and 

 work.shops far greater. Tiie appropriation for the construction of the 

 present building was $250,000. This sum was supplemented by several 

 special appropriations: $25,000 for steam-heating apparatus; $26,000 

 for marble floors; $12,500 for water and gas fixtures and electrical 

 apparatus, and $1,900 for si)ecial sewer connections, so that the total 

 cost was$U5,400. The structure was probably completed for a smaller 

 sum of money than any other similar one of equal capacity in the world, 

 at an expense ralative to capacity which the present prices of material 

 make it certain can not be repeated. 



The estimates of cost on this building vary greatly with regard to 



