We are very proud of this tradition and believe that it is an integral part of the success of the institution. We are pleased to report that construction of the Museum Support Center is 60 percent complete. Fourteenth-century manuscript and the catalog "Renaissance of Islam: Art of the Mamluks" from the exhibition displayed in the Evans Gallery at the National Museum of Natural History.
We are very proud of the results of the improvements to the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden, including easy access for the disabled. We have also successfully met all requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act. Mr President, I and my staff will be happy to respond to your questions and those of the committee.
INTRODUCTION OF ASSOCIATES
QUADRANGLE FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN
The museum in the past and the Hirshhorn, with contracts in hand and cash on hand to meet ongoing demands for the next 3 years. So we're very, very hopeful that the committee will see this as a very positive campaign and something that we're prepared to match dollar for dollar all the way. And so you expect that you can raise the remaining $10 million plus during the fiscal year.
So that in your opinion it would be very important to appropriate the full Federal portion to match this. And if we can assure the government that we do in fact have the money in hand, that helps reassure the federal side. At the moment pledges are in hand on the Eastern side of those countries, from countries abroad, more than.
To date, our funds directly for the African Museum consist of money that we know we will obtain from the sale of the houses where the current African Museum is located. We plan to start working in North Africa very soon and hope to get some foreign donations.
QUADRANGLE CONSTRUCTION COST
Peyton will support me, I think, in saying that over the last year we've had plenty of time to revise our estimates, and we're now stuck at $75 million for the entire project as it is. Laughter.] I can say that our record is good in that regard, both with respect to the National Air and Space Museum and the Hirshhorn. We stood with a figure that we showed at the time that we were asking for the large construction costs, and we did not come back to Congress, and we do not intend to do so in this case.
QUADRANGLE AUTHORIZATION
QUADRANGLE FIRE PROTECTION, SECURITY, AND LIGHTING
QUADRANGLE EQUIPMENT COSTS
The basic ability to provide them is all the wiring, panel boxes, the display units. They are quite different, it seems to me, from the basic lighting of the building or the basic locks and so on. They must be connected with an exhibition and the lighting that is placed on it and the protection that is.
NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK CONSTRUCTION
AQUATIC HABITAT FACILITY
That's right It seems to me that the energy consumption inherent in such a sophisticated building will require us to continue to study this proposal in depth and ensure a reasonable budget. Reed, if you can give us a reason why a scaled-down facility doubles in cost, I'd be intrigued. It's a very difficult one to fully explain because of the design phase we went through, and we've only completed the first part of the design.
Again, for the record, please give us a breakdown between the cost increase and the cost associated with the change. It seems impossible to me that increased construction costs, even though you may have estimated them at 14 or 15% annual inflation, could account for the doubling of abatement costs. The fiscal year 1983 budget request provides for a total cost of $17.5 million for Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the aquatic habitat exhibits, compared to the fiscal year 1982 estimate of $9.8 million.
The $7.7 million increase includes (a) $1 million to update plans for Phase 1 in fiscal year 1985, which will have been shelved for over 3 years and. The state of the art in water quality design can change this time and we need to keep up with the changes. The design phase of the scaled-down plan has been completed and includes a two-module facility formanates and penguins along with basic educational signage, (b) $4.5 million for inflation due to construction of Phase 1 in fiscal year 1986.
The original estimate of $6 million for construction costs in fiscal year 1982 without design changes would be inflated by about 15 percent per year, bringing the cost to a total of $10.5 million, (c) $2.2 million for inflation, which would increase the cost of Phase 2 of the exhibit to $5.5 million to be used to fund the final sea otter module and the expanded education module in fiscal year 1986. The fiscal year 1982 budget request estimates that this phase will be funded in fiscal year 1983 to $3.3 million.
ZOO PARKING FACILITY
RESTORATION AND RENOVATION OF BUILDINGS
ARTS AND INDUSTRIES BUILDING EXTERIOR RENOVATION
The architect engineer and our own staff felt that the estimate projected was correct. Well, the explanation I would give, sir, is that this, as well as most of the Smithsonian restoration and renovation projects, is virtually one of a kind. There is a lot of manual work and scouting involved in actually determining what actually needs to be done.
We do this in the case of this particular project by photographing the facade of the building and marking the drawings to show the areas. Well, it fluctuates because the initial estimate was developed based on what we thought the cost per square foot would be. In the final analysis, detailed quantity reduction must be made to determine what the actual cost is.
NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM RENOVATION
They are also very disruptive considering this is our most popular museum, open 7 days a week. I would expect that the numbers we have in our 5-year plan can be refined as we go forward. Again, as I said in the case of the Arts and Industries Building, these are really special types of projects, and they've been complicated.
Well, the purpose of our 5-year plan is to identify some problems that will need to be corrected.
ENERGY CONSERVATION
RESTORED POSITION FUNDING
If funding were only provided to cover vacancy costs and not to add new positions, what would be the cost savings? I believe it would be about a quarter of our request, but I would like to continue this and submit it for the record. The cost of filling only the vacancies authorized by Congress in fiscal year 1982 would be $845,000, a savings of $280,000 over the Institution's request.
MUSEUM SUPPORT CENTER STAFFING
QUADRANGLE OPERATING COSTS
MUSEUM SUPPORT CENTER STORAGE EQUIPMENT
The whole matter is handled by the General Services Administration, which has been very helpful in this matter, but there have been delays. However, we expect the project to move by the end of this financial year. Those we have in 1982 are essential, as are those we demand in 1983, because of economies of scale.
The cost will be lower if we can maintain economies of scale; that is, to keep the budget to the fullest extent.
NEW BIDS FOR MUSEUM SUPPORT CENTER EJQUIRMENT
ADDITIONAL COMMITTEE QUESTIONS
Current budgets for the activities that will be moved to the Center are nearly $14 million, most of which are trust funds. The center's total staff is estimated at approximately 319 persons, of which approximately 146 are currently on budget. The remaining 40 percent of the postage costs are due to bulk shipments (contract shipments, reprints, books and other bulk printed materials) and are added to the costs determined from the sample count.
In June 1981, the General Services Administration imposed a rate increase of 52.9 percent (or $281 thousand) for the operation of the Federal Telecommunications System service. A minor portion of the cost increase ($125 thousand) can be attributed to a 9 percent growth in the number of telephones between fiscal years 1981 and 1983. In light of the declining world market price of oil, it appears that the *82 increase may have been overgenerous.
Question: Beginning with fiscal year 1981, the Smithsonian has annually requested an inflation allowance based on seven percent of the non-salary items in its budget. These were either absorbed into the bases of the museums and bureaus, causing a reduction in the quality and quantity of Smithsonian programs, or applied separately as the program increased. For the preparation of the fiscal year 1981 budget, 0MB provided pricing guidelines which recognized the effects of inflationary pressures and permitted the Smithsonian to request an inflationary increase of up to 10.3 percent of the non-salary object classes of expenditures for this purpose.
Accordingly, the Smithsonian requested a percentage increase of seven percent of the total nonsalary object classes of expenditures for inflationary cost increases in FY 1981 and in subsequent budgets. As arrangements develop, the University of Maryland will be particularly involved given its longstanding interest in conservation, related matters and the location of the Support Center in the state of Maryland. Question: When the program is fully operational, what will be the size of the classes.
Answer: Due to the highly specialized nature of conservation and the need for one-on-one involvement between student and instructor in the practical aspects of training, no more than four to six students are expected in the first year. will be accepted, the number will gradually increase to between fifteen and twenty.
