HISTORY OF THE MUSEUM 



the North Wing and for the beginning of the central section of the 

 South Facade, which was to contain a lecture hall. 



A further appropriation of $400,000 was made in 1889 for the com- 

 pletion of the new section of the building. This was ready for occu- 

 pancy in 1892, and was formally opened on November 2d of that year. 

 It provided three exhibition halls, besides room for a library and a 

 lecture hall. 



At this time the City had expended for the two sections of the 

 building $1,500,000. It was estimated that the Trustees, their friends, 

 and the public had contributed in money and specimens, $1,700,000. 



The fourth addition to the building, namely, the East Wing, was 

 provided for in an appropriation of $400,000 made by the Legislature 

 in 1893, and an additional appropriation of $200,000, made in 1894. 

 This portion of the building, with a frontage on Seventy-seventh 

 Street of one hundred and fifty-seven feet, was opened in the fall of 

 1894. The ground floor contained the Jesup collection of woods. 

 The second floor was used for the large mammals, including the Bison 

 and Moose groups. On the third floor were the small mammals, the 

 insect collections, and the overflow material from the Bird Hall. 

 The fourth floor was given over to the new Department of Vertebrate 

 Palaeontology. 



The construction of the W^est Wing immediately followed this, 

 and was provided for in an appropriation of $500,000 in 1895. This 

 section was completed in 1897. The W r est Wing was almost entirely 

 occupied by the various collections of the Department of Anthropology 

 with the reservation of a small space for the Library. 



Besides the provision required for the new growth, the architectural 

 symmetry of the building demanded the erection of the Southeast and 

 Southwest Tower Wings, by which the entire South Facade of the 

 Museum would be completed. This work was authorized in 1897, as 

 was also that for a new lecture hall to be erected at the north end of 

 the North Wing. The Southeast and Southwest Tower Wings were 

 completed in 1899. 



The new Lecture Hall, with a seating capacity of 1,428, was com- 



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