Descriptive Entry

This record unit consists of project files documenting the repairs, improvement, and renovation of existing Smithsonian buildings. The records include memoranda with Smithsonian offices, correspondence with contractors, blueprints, cost analyses, specifications, and photographs.

Buildings and museums documented in this collection include: the Smithsonian Institution Building, the National Mall, the Silver Hill Facility, the Barney Studio House, the Belmont Estate, the Canal Zone Biological Area at Barro Colorado Island (now the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute), the Cooper-Hewitt Museum (Carnegie Mansion), the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, the Government Printing Office at Lamont Street, the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum, the Renwick Gallery, the National Air and Space Museum, the National Museum of History and Technology (now the National Museum of American History), the National Museum of Natural History, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Arts and Industries Building, L'Enfant Plaza offices, the Chesapeake Bay Center for Environmental Studies (now the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center), the Freer Gallery of Art, the National Collection of Fine Arts (later named the National Museum of American Art), the National Portrait Gallery, the Museum Support Center, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, the Smithsonian Institution Service Center, the Hillwood Museum, the Old Post Office Building, the National Zoological Park, the Quadrangle Complex, and miscellaneous other facilities.