208 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1958 
MAINTENANCE OF THE BUILDING AND GROUNDS 
Throughout the fiscal year the Gallery building, its equipment, and 
its grounds have been maintained at the established standards. 
The conversion of the elevator in the west wing of the Gallery 
building from manual control to automatic operation was completed 
in January 1958. Accordingly, for the first time since the opening 
of the Gallery in 1941, this elevator is regularly available to the gen- 
eral public. 
In the outer lobby of the Constitution Avenue entrance two new 
marble benches were installed. It is believed that these are more in 
keeping with the general appearance of the Gallery than the wood 
benches they replaced. 
In March 1958 the shipping door at the northeast moat was replaced 
with an aluminum door more easily opened and closed than the door 
which has served the Gallery since its inception. 
In January 1958 the installation of LecTour, an electronic guide 
system, was completed in 10 galleries. The device was made available 
to the public the first Monday in February. From that time to the 
end of the fiscal year 24,651 persons used this guide service. 
For the Korean exhibition, the Gallery staff, working in conjunc- 
tion with designers from the Smithsonian Institution, created an 
unusual installation, using special designs in vertical cases, wall 
cases, and special bases. The installation was unique in its field and 
was unusually well received by the public. 
The expansion of the Gallery’s horticultural program continued 
during the year, and the current annual production of plants and 
flowers for the garden courts, special exhibitions, etc., is valued at 
$24,000, compared to less than $6,000 before the greenhouse and cold- 
house were made available to the Gallery’s horticulturist late in 1954. 
Additionally, it is now estimated that in the greenhouse and growing 
beds for future use there are plant materials having a value in excess 
of $40,000. 
OTHER ACTIVITIES 
Forty Sunday evening concerts were given during the fiscal year 
in the East Garden Court. The National Gallery of Art Orchestra, 
conducted by Richard Bales, played nine concerts in the Gallery, 
two of which were made possible by the Music Performance Trust 
Fund of the American Federation of Musicians. <A string orchestra 
conducted by Mr. Bales furnished music during the opening of the 
Korean Exhibition on December 14, 1957, and at the opening of the 
Stieglitz Exhibition on March 15, 1958. A special concert was given 
on June 15, 1958, in the Lecture Hall for representatives of radio 
and television stations in the East. The National Gallery Orchestra 
with the Church of the Reformation Choir presented Mr. Bales’s two 
