S. Mis. 53. 87 



REPORT OF THP: BUILDING COMMITTEE. 



The Building Committee of the Smithsonian Institution presents the 

 following report of its operations during the past year : 



The contract between the Board of Regents and (j'ilhert Cinneron 

 has been declared completed, by Mr. Renwiek, It includes the finish- 

 irtg of the exterior of the entire building, the interior of the extreme 

 wings and connecting ranges, and the interior ol" the towers, leaving 

 the whole interior of the main building to be fmisluMl. 'J'his comprises 

 a space of two hundred feet long by fifty wide, and about sixty high, 

 to be divided into a basement and two stories. 



Mr. Renwiek has presented to the Board his final decision as to the 

 state of accounts between the Regents and ihe contractor. According 

 to thi&, there is due to the latter the sum of $11,G07 24. 



By a resolution of the Board, all the wood -work nnd framing which 

 now occupies the interior of the main building is to be removed, and 

 its place supplied by fire-proof materials. In accordance with the 

 direction of the Regents, the committee have procured phms and esti- 

 mates of the proposed work, whicli are herewith submitted fi)r the 

 consideration ol the Regents. These plans differ in some respects 

 fifom the orio-inal design of the main buildin";, and the changes are 

 such as materially to improve the edifice, rendering it more stable and 

 better adapted to the purposes of the Institution, Should the plans 

 presented be adopted, the committee would advise that the new work 

 be commenced as soon as the preliminary arrangements can be made, 

 and prosecuted as rapidly as the funds will allow. The expc^rience or 

 last year has shown that, beyond a certain degree, the extension of the 

 time of completing the buildmg does not tend to improve the condition 

 of the funds. The cost of superint(aidence is in proportion to the time, 

 and not to the work done; and a mcjre advantageous arrangement can 

 be made for finishing the remainder of the building at once than by 

 doing it in detached portions, unless the whole work be stopped for 

 some years. The present condition of the building would scarcely 

 warrant this measure. 



Mr. Renwiek, in a letter to the R(>gents, signified his intention oi 

 declining further services to the Institution unless his account for full 

 salary was paid by a specified time. The Board of Regents, consid- 

 ering themselves unauthorized to continue his large salary for an 

 indefinite length of time alter the end of the five years, which limited 

 the duration of the original contract, passed a resolution that his claim 

 should be paid, provided he would report as to the state of the account 

 between the Board and the contractor previous to the discontinuance 

 of his services. Mr. Renwiek agreed to this proposition, and in ac- 

 cordance with it has presented his final n^port to the Begents. 



After Mr. Renwiek left the charge of the building the committee 

 employed Captain B. S. Alexander, of the U. S. corps of Engineers, to 

 prepare detailed drawings and plans for rendering the remainder of 



