46 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 19 60 



Petticord & Mills, of Washington, D.C., are the architects, and the 

 contract for construction will be supervised by the General Services 

 Administration. 



The principal contracts for the construction of the ISIuseum of 

 History and Teclinology Building, were awarded September 16, 1959, 

 and work actually commenced October 5. The contracts were awarded 

 to the Norair Engineering Corporation, Washington, D.C., for con- 

 struction of the building. The elevators and escalators will be in- 

 stalled by the Otis Elevator Co. Within the plan of the building's 

 structure, which was carefully reviewed and adopted by the Joint 

 Congressional Committee on Construction and subsequently approved 

 by the Commission of Fine Arts, the Smithsonian Institution's staff 

 has developed designs for exhibits for approximately 38 major areas 

 of historical and technological displays. Workrooms for the cura- 

 torial staff will be located adjacent to the storage areas for the reserve 

 and study collections of cataloged objects, which provide basic data 

 for interested visitors, students, and professional workei-s. Labora- 

 tories for the preservation and scientific study of materials of 

 historical significance, and shops for exhibit construction and main- 

 tenance are included in the plans. The design architects, McKim, 

 Mead & Wliite, advised the Smithsonian Institution during the year 

 on details of construction. 



Modern-type seating was installed in the auditorium of the Natural 

 History Building to provide more effective use of this hall. Improve- 

 ment in the aisle lighting in the auditorium also was accomplished, 

 with visitors' safety in mind. 



Two metal buildings erected in the west court of the Natural His- 

 tory Building have provided working space for the exhibits staff as 

 well as production facilities. Recent improvements include the con- 

 struction of an extension on the west side of one buildmg for housing 

 the taxidermy section and a covered storage area along the east side 

 of the other building to furnish protection to the Northwest Indian 

 wooden boats stored by the division of etlinology. Ileraodeling of 

 the exhibits laboratory includes a partial second-floor level, design 

 office, general office, two dark rooms, paint spray room, sanding room, 

 paint storage room, restoration room, enlarged cabinet shop, and gen- 

 eral work area. Lighting installations, installation of ventilating 

 equipment, plumbing and heating revisions, electric service modifica- 

 tions, and related work are also provided. 



Increasing needs for working space made the proper utilization of 

 available areas imperative. Useful space was gained by the con- 

 struction of second-floor levels in five rooms on the ground floor of 

 the Natural History building. 



All marble surfaces of the north entrance lobby and vestibule of 

 the Natural History Building were renovated, the bronze surfaces 



