Crumbling Smithsonian calls for help

A cracked ceiling, center, and 40-year-old leaky pipes are in need of repair at the Smithsonian

Institution needs help with aging buildings

June 11, 2000
Web posted at: 10:33 p.m. EDT (0233 GMT)

From correspondent Kate Snow

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The most heavily trafficked museums in the world -- the nine branches of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. -- are falling apart.

Summer in the nation's capital means throngs of tourists visiting the National Mall, the Air and Space Museum, the Museum of Natural History and the seven other branches that make up the Smithsonian.

But this summer there is a problem: The buildings are wearing out.

Visitors to the Air and Space Museum probably don't notice the snags in the carpet. They may never know that the windows are fogged because they have lost their thermal seals.

Exhibits have to be covered, visitors protected

But it is hard to miss the ongoing repairs, the rockets covered up, a replica of the Apollo-Soyuz spacecraft under wraps.

At the Arts and Industries Building, plastic sheets protect visitors from falling chunks of ceiling.

At the National Museum of Natural History, 40-year-old pipes drip onto the floor.

	VIDEO
CNN's Kate Snow finds out why the Smithsonian will be pushing for a multi-million dollar maintenance and repair fund. Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K

Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lawrence Small said: "I'm amazed that you could have the greatest portrait in the United States, of George Washington; you could have the Declaration of Independence desk, the desk on which it was written; you could have the hat that Abraham Lincoln had on the day he died, in buildings that really not only possibly endanger them, but the American people coming to look at them."

The Smithsonian's new leader says it could cost up to $500 million to fix up six of the museums in Washington and he is asking Congress to help.

Sen. Robert Torricelli (D. New Jersey) said, "I believe the Smithsonian has very broad support.

"But it does need to make its case better and make clear that we're not meeting our burden of maintaining these national treasures."

The Smithsonian intends to focus attention on fixing the cracks in its aging buildings -- hoping to convince not only Congress but private donors to rescue the museums owned by every American.

Helping the young appreciate the value of bugs
May 20, 2000
'Star Wars' obsession on show at Smithsonian
October 29, 1997

Smithsonian Institution
Senator Robert Torricelli (D. New Jersey)

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.