COMPLETION AND OCCUPATION OF THE NEW 



BUILDING. 



The final work in the construction of the new building for the 

 National Museum was completed on June 20, 1911, just six years 

 after the excavations for its foundation walls were begun. That this 

 result was not reached some months earlier, as had been anticipated, 

 was mainly due to delays in the fulfillment of certain contracts, but 

 the work has at all times been conducted with that deliberation and 

 attention to details which were necessary to secure entire stability 

 and permanency of structure and these, it is believed, have been 

 obtained. The building is massive and imposing, a worthy addition 

 to the group of Government structures at the Capital, and seems 

 thoroughly adapted to the purpose for which it was erected. 



The new building is located on the Mall directly in front of the 

 Smithsonian building, which it faces, and from which it is distant 

 about 750 feet. It is of classic design, four stories high, and finished 

 in granite on all sides. It has a frontage of 561 feet, a depth of 365 

 feet, and a height of 82 feet. Its shorter axis is in a line with the 

 center of Tenth Street, through which it may be reached from Penn- 

 sylvania Avenue, three blocks away. The principal feature ex- 

 teriorly is a large pavilion at the middle of the south side, termi- 

 nating in four pediments at some distance above the main roofs. 

 Inclosed by this pavilion is an octagonal rotunda, 80 feet in diameter, 

 with four massive stone piers and a curved tiled ceiling reaching to 

 a height of 124 feet 7 inches. At the top the rotunda is carried be- 

 yond the pediments of the pavilion in the shape of a circular granite 

 wall or drum, capped by a low rounded dome with slate covering, 

 the crown of which is 162 feet 2 inches above the ground. The south 

 pavilion contains the main entrance, which opens into the first story, 

 is sheltered by a Corinthian portico and reached by the broad steps 

 and platforms of the approaches from the driveway. On the north- 

 ern side of the building there is another public entrance, leading into 

 the ground story. 



The main part of the building consists fundamentally of three 

 great wings, which extent east, west and north from the south pavil- 

 ion, producing a shape like the letter T. These wings, in turn, are 

 joined near their outer ends by two ranges, each bent at right angles, 

 which compose the northeastern and northwestern sections of the 

 building and help to inclose two uncovered courts 128 feet square. 

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