Proposal to Renovate the East Wing of SIB

Summary

A letter from Secretary Spencer F. Baird is laid before the United States Congress proposing to have the interior of the Smithsonian Institution Building East Wing remodeled and fireproofed, including a new arrangment of floors, partitions, and roofs, which would double the internal capacity of the building without disturbing its present architectural style. The wing, which was not damaged by the 1865 fire, had a wood and plaster interior at the time of the remodelling request. To support his request, Baird includes an extract from a building inspector's report noting that the east wing and connecting corridor contain all the records and valuable documents of the Institution. As the interior is entirely of wood, the report recommends the wing be completely cleared out and rebuilt and furnished with improved modes of communication and egress.

Subject

• Baird, Spencer Fullerton 1823-1887
• Smithsonian Institution Building (Washington, D.C.)
• Smithsonian Institution Building East Wing
• United States Congress

Category

Chronology of Smithsonian History

Notes

• Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution for the year 1882. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1884, p. 4-5.
• Rhees, William Jones. The Smithsonian Institution: Documents Relative to Its Origin and History: 1835-1899, Vol. 1, 1835-1887. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1901, p. 891-893.

Contact information

Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu

Date

March 15, 1882

Topic

• Architecture
• Secretaries
• Fire
• Repair and reconstruction
• Expenditures, Public
• Archives
• Buildings
• Fires
• Buildings--Repair and reconstruction

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