The City of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is building a science/discovery center. The institution does not currently have any (? or much) staff, and none that are devoted to developing, testing, and building exhibits. Therefore, they are looking to contract out all of these functions. The problem seems to be that since they don't know what type of exhibits they want/need, it would be difficult for them to let one contract that would take care of the preliminary brain work, prototyping, ALONG WITH construction and installation. My questions to you, my Museum-L friends, is this: do any of you work at a publicly-run (as opposed to private, non-profit) Science Center that has done anything remotely similar? Is there a way to let one contract for everything and not get taken to the cleaners? Or would a two-step process be the best plan? I am asking, not for myself, but for Wally Doolittle of the Sioux Falls City Attorney's office. He would appreciate any thoughts that any of you might have on the subject. He can be reached at 605/367-8883 or by e-mail at [log in to unmask] Thanks for any help you can give. Claudia Nicholson Curator of Collections Museum of the South Dakota State Historical Society Pierre [log in to unmask]