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Contract Opportunity

Sources Sought December 2023

Pacific Northwest Coast Regional Archaeological Curation Services Contract for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Northwestern Division

Purpose: To identify small business facilities/repositories interested in competing on a possible future RFP for curation services for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) archaeological collections.

If any facilities/repositories other than small businesses are interested, they may respond to this Sources Sought at this time.

Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ), FFP Contract

Base Year with Four Option Years

This is a Sources Sought and is not a request for quotation. It will not result in any award of contract and no remuneration will be forthcoming for the preparation of a response to this Sources Sought.

General: This Sources Sought is for the USACE, Northwestern Division (NWD) Pacific Northwest Coast regional curation facility. USACE, St. Louis District will issue this contract and is looking for a 36 CFR Part 79 compliant facility to curate Northwestern Division’s Pacific Northwest Coast region archaeological collections for up to five years. Currently there are between 1,200-1,300 cubic/linear feet of collections, and minimal growth is expected each year. The work covered by this Sources Sought includes housing and providing collections management services and access to archaeological materials and associated records (hereafter archaeological collections) generated in conjunction with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers activities. Additional tasks may include, where appropriate, stabilization, preservation, and transportation of archaeological collections. 36 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 79—Curation of Federally-Owned and Administered Archeological Collections (Enclosure 1)—states in 79.6(b)(1), that, “When possible, the collection should be deposited in a repository that…(ii) Stores and maintains other collections from the same site or project location; or (iii) Houses collections from a similar geographic region or cultural area.” Additionally, 36 CFR 79.6(b)(2) recommends that collections “should not be subdivided and stored at more than a single repository unless such subdivision is necessary to meet special storage, conservation, or research needs.” Finally, the two components of these collections—archaeological materials and associated records—“should be deposited in the same repository to maintain the integrity and research value of the collection.” Except in those instances where non-federally owned archaeological collections are retained and disposed of by the owner [36 CFR 79.6(b)(3)].

Facilities/Repositories interested in housing NWD Pacific Northwest Coast region collections must have existing facilities with established collections management policies or guidelines and an established fee schedule. The facilities/repositories interested should have the capacity to store maximum 1,500 cubic feet of archaeological collections and meet the standards set forth in 36 CFR 79.9. The facilities/repositories interested must accept collections from any state within a geographic region and must accept collections that include Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) defined human skeletal materials and cultural objects. The facilities/repositories must accept collections that may not, upon delivery, meet the repositories’ curation standards. Additionally, facilities/repositories must be able to permit access as appropriate for research and religious use consistent with 36 CFR 79.10.

Work Period: The contract duration shall be one Base Year with four Option Years to be issued at the discretion of the Contracting Officer.

Required Trades: The facilities/repositories shall have the capabilities of supplying trades necessary to meet the criteria of 36 CFR Part 79.

Required Equipment: No specific equipment is required of the facilities/repositories; however, as specified in 36 CFR 79.9(2), the facilities/repositories must be able to “dedicate the requisite facilities, equipment, and space to properly store, study and conserve the collection. Space used for storage, study, conservation, and, if exhibited, any exhibition must not be used for non-curatorial purposes that would endanger or damage the collection.” Additionally, the facilities/repositories must “keep the collection under physically secure conditions within storage, laboratory, study and any exhibition areas” [see 36 CFR 79.9(3)].

Responders to this Sources Sought should submit no more than a five-page narrative that outlines facility/repository capabilities including:

1. Current available space for archaeological collections at a single facility/repository located within the Pacific Northwest Coast NWD region (roughly the entire state of Oregon and the state of Washington west of the Cascade Mountains). Future plans for expansion including timeline. Provide data in cubic, linear, or square feet to describe storage dimensions.


2. A demonstrated ability to maintain an archaeological collections management center that will provide for the long-term curation of archaeological collections in accordance with 36 CFR 79.9 and Engineering Regulation/Engineer Pamphlet (ER/EP) 1130-2-540 (images may be included as supporting evidence and will not count against the 5-page limit).


3. The ability to accept collections that originated from out of the state where the repository is located.


4. Information regarding fee schedules for one-time accessioning/processing fees (which are separate from annual curation services costs).


5. The current per box/per cubic foot cost for one year of maintenance (annual curation services costs) of artifact collections and the per linear foot costs of one year of maintenance of records collections.


6. Information regarding the professional curatorial staff that includes Qualified Museum Professionals as described in 36 CFR 79.4(b)(h).


7. Either a copy of, or a reference to the web location of, the facility/repository collections management guidelines. These guidelines may be attached to the narrative and do not count against the page limit.


8. Provide information to help determine if the requirement (service) is commercially available, including pricing information, basis for the pricing information, customary terms and conditions, etc.

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