TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT 41 



1. Repairs to the roof of Building: necessary to 



make it watertight $1,500.00 



2. Repairs to archway over rear door 200.00 



3. Resurfacing of outer walls now in a very bad 



condition 1,000.00 



4. Installation of ventilation system to exhaust 



foul air 800.00 



$3,500.00 



The sum of $2,000 was granted for the first three of the 

 above items, and work is now under way. 



A contract has been let for necessary repairs to the tile 

 flooring and also for the painting of the entire interior of the 

 main hall and the upper and lower offices. The present venti- 

 lating ducts have also been extended and arrangements made 

 for more light in the office stairway. The annual lining of the 

 furnaces with brick has been done at a cost of $310, and the 

 iron work in the building has been thoroughly scraped and 

 painted by the Aquarium forces. 



The most important improvement during the year has been 

 the installation of filters for purifying the Harbor water used 

 in the floor pools for seals, porpoises and large fish. Being of 

 low salinity and polluted with sewage, New York Harbor water 

 is very unsatisfactory for aquarium purposes. 



MAINTENANCE. 



Par/.-.— The sum of $200,000 provided by the City for the 

 maintenance of the Zoological Park for the year 1915, proved 

 sufficient and the year closed without a deficit. The sum of 

 $197,074.35 has been appropriated for the year 1916. This re- 

 duction of $2,925.65 is an arbitrary cut made by the City author- 

 ities in the interest of general economy and will make it difficult 

 for the Society to maintain the Park during the year without 

 a deficit. 



Aquarium. — The sum of $47,000 provided by the City for 

 the maintenance of the Aquarium for the year 1915, proved 

 suiffcient to close the year without a deficit. A similar amount 

 has been granted for the year 1916. 



