STIMULUS, INDEED! MAJOR RENOVATION OF THE FIELD

MUSEUM’S PINNED INSECT COLLECTION

FUNDED BY ARRA

Flies (and other Insects) in Federal Alphabet Soup

OR~~

ECN 2013

Margaret K. Thayer

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

Long title An act making supplemental appropriations for job preservation and creation, infrastructure investment, energy efficiency and science, assistance to the unemployed, State, and local fiscal stabilization, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2009, and for other purposes.

Colloquial acronym(s) ARRANickname(s) The Recovery Act, Stimulus, The Stimulus

PackageEnacted by the  111th United States CongressEffective February 17, 2009

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Recovery_and_Reinvestment_Act_of_2009

“Infrastructure Improvements to Support Invertebrate Research at The Field Museum”

1. Keystone: Compactor system in non-beetle pinned collection space, adding beetle collection to free up 3 rooms

2. Hook: New 2-room shared lab area – multiple imaging systems, morphological study, group workspace (Collaborative Invertebrate Labs)

3. Benefit: Expansion space for dry invertebrate collections adjacent to existing; modernize both

The Cast Rüdiger Bieler (PI, Inverts curator) Margaret Thayer (Co-PI, Insects curator) Deborah Bekken (Sponsored Research) Pamela Clayburn (Grants Compliance) Dan Summers, Jim Boone, other Insects staff Jochen Gerber, other Inverts staff Jim Croft (VP, CFO) Tom Chlipala (Project Manager) Kate Webbink & Jared Berent (Videography) Volunteers, students, et al. (collection move)

The Scene

Upper level – 3rd floorLower level – 2nd floor mezzBeetle collection 1 → Collaborative Labs

Invert collection (all)→ Invert collection 1

Beetle collection 2→ Invert collection 2

Non-beetle collection → All pinned insects

The Plot July 2009: Submitted proposal (after

Letter of Intent) – $3.3 M budget February 2010: Began negotiations w/NSF

(several rounds of revised documents, budgets)

September 2010: Grant award letter – $2.78M budget allocated (not actually awarded)

Special ARRA/ARI conditions: No funds for indirect costs, salaries/personnel, moving existing cabinets, modifying elevators; high level of reporting and accountability

NSF · DBI · ARRA · ARI-R2 · LOI · WBS · PEP · RFQ · RFP · WHD · DBRA · §1606 · OMB · CBP

Open bidding, Buy American (~ no exceptions) Construction projects complex, NSF ones more

so, ARRA topped all – each contract required a new spending authorization request to NSF

Reports! Monthly (32) + Quarterly (13x2) + Semiannual DBRA (5) + Annual (2) + Final (2) = 67! + 3 research outcomes in following year

Reports variously via FederalReporting.gov/ fastlane.nsf.gov, later research.gov/ email

Alphabet Soup & Other ARRA Fun

Bidding Structure Complex project: (1) construction (electrical,

mechanical, plumbing, fire protection, woodworking, security) and (2) equipment & installation → ≥ 2 contractors

Flexibility to award insect and invert equipment contracts separately, if desired

Modular RFP (Request for Proposals) and bids: construction, insect cabinets/compactor, insect drawers, invertebrate cabinets/drawers, security

364-page construction manual + 22 pp. equipment + 31 pp drawings + over 100 pp. museum and federal requirements

Contract Awards1) Construction (General contractor

w/several subcontractors)2) Insect equipment (Viking Cabinets as

prime w/subcontracts for compactor system by Spacesaver & installation by SIR)

3) Wooden insect drawers (HH Elements)4) Invertebrate equipment (Spacesaver as

prime w/subcontract for cabinets by Delta Designs)

5) Security (card readers for access control)

Cabinets 5 compactor sections eachwith 7 double rows x 14 cabinets =980 cabinets (766 x 24-drawer, 214 x 21-drawer) = 22,878 drawer slots

E

elevator (non-public)

20ft

Cabinets on 1 fixed + 6 movable carriages per section

E

N24 ft

Reprints & slides on 1 fixed + 5 movable carriages

S wall – fixed shelves for slides & reprints

Shelves: 6 double rows x 9 shelf units ea =108 units (ea 3 ft x 1 ft)

6.73ft

fixed

sec

tion

fixed

sec

tion

fixed

sec

tion

fixed

sec

tion

fixed

sec

tion

End view of one cabinet section:

Compactor Plan

6 workstation cubicles

One Year in: Trouble Ahead Planned adjustments of fire-protection

system to fit 24-drawer cabinets NOT allowable: 19-drawer max, NO old cabinets reusable

Back to the drawing board … and rebidding Remove shelving from compactor → only

cabinets Reduce aisle size → 40 instead of 35 carriages Couldn’t reuse ANY old cabinets as planned →

Buy 339 more than planned: Budget???

Revised Plan 40 carriages, each with 2 x 14 cabinets =

1120 cabinets, all new 19-drawer = 21,280 slots

Some construction under budget: full new plan OK!

Insect Collection Area Before

How It Happened …

End Result

Collaborative Labs Before

M. L. Jamieson photo

How It Happened …

End Result

Invertebrate Collection How It Happened

End Result

Lessons Learned Read the fine print … ALL of it (And again, if

you thought you already did) Have an outstanding Grants Compliance

manager (we did!) Verify all dimensions and building-code issues

as early as possible (beware Catch-22s) Get and test prototypes before

manufacturing (Insects did , Invertebrates didn’t )

Everything will be harder and take longer than expected

Thank you My colleagues on the FMNH-ARI team NSF for funding the project