706 REPORTS OF THE BUILDING COMMITTEE. 



The President of the United States in 1847 appropriated to the use of the Institu- 

 tion nineteen acres of land, in the middle of which the building has been erected. 

 This space was enclosed with a fence and planted with trees at the expense of the 

 Smithsonian fund. The whole amount of expenditure for these objects was about 

 four thousand dollars, but the execution of the plan before mentioned, at the expense 

 of the general government, will render unnecessary any farther disbursements on 

 this account. 



Without surrendering the right of use of the ground appropriated to the Institu- 

 tion, the partition fence between it and the other part of the Mall has been removed 

 and the whole given in charge to Mr. Downing, and his able assistant, Mr. Brecken- 

 ridge. 



The committee recommend that the interior of the north and south towers, which 

 connect with the rooms hereafter to be used for the library and museum, shall be 

 made as far as possible fire-proof. It is also suggested that the gas and water-pipes 

 be laid in the building as it progresses. 



The attention of the Board is invited to the consideration of such measures as may 

 be deemed preparatory to proceeding with the completion of the centre building, such 

 as plans and estimates. 



The following is submitted as an account of the expenditures of the Smithsonian 

 Institution relative to the building during the year 1851. 



Pay on contracts $22,000 00 



Pay of architect, &c 2,214 45 



Expenses of Building Committee, &c 43 53 



Miscellaneous to building 62 07 



Furniture, &c, to building 1,135 95 



Grounds 515 54 



$25,971 54 

 Respectfully submitted : 



WALTER LENOX, 

 GRAHAM N. FITCH, 



Report of the Building Committee for the year 1852. 



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 Gilbert Cameron has been declared 

 completed by Mr. Renwick. It includes the finishing of the exterior of the entire 

 building, the interior of the extreme wings and connecting ranges, and the interior 

 of the towers, leaving the whole interior of the main building to be finished. This 

 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. Renwick has presented to the Board his final decision as to the state of 

 accounts between the Regents and the contractor. According to this, there is due to 

 the latter the sum of $11,607.24. 



By a resolution of the Board, all the wood work and 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 plans and estimates of the proposed work, which are herewith submit- 

 ted for the consideration of the Regents. These plans differ in some respects from 

 the original design of the main building, 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 experience of last year 

 has shown that, beyond a certain degree, the extension of the time of completing the 

 building does not tend to improve the condition of the funds. The cost of superin- 

 tendence is in proportion to the time, and not to the work done; and a more advan- 

 tageous 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. Renwick, in a letter to the Regents, signified his intention of declining fur- 

 ther services to the Institution unless his account for full salary was paid by a speci- 

 fied time. The Board of Regents, considering themselves unauthorized to continue 

 his large salary for an indefinite length of time after the end of the five years, which 



