Arc Project:

Dear Bahá'í Friend,

The historic Arc and Terrace projects are now advancing at full speed, and the Universal House of Justice has asked us to inform you of the progress being made.

The work is planned to proceed in several distinct phases. Phase One involved the strengthening and facing of the two-hundred-metre-long retaining wall supporting the main Terrace of the Shrine of the Bab. This work continued in spite of many difficulties during the Gulf crisis and has now been completed.

Phase Two, the contract for which was signed on 17 June l991, as already announced, involves the excavation for the Centre for the Study of the Texts and the Archives Extension, the extension eastwards of the main Terrace of the Shrine of the Bab, and the completion of eight of the Terraces below the Shrine. Work 1s currently in progress in three main areas, as explained below.

On the site of the Centre for the Study of the Texts and the Archives Extension a security fence has been erected around the work area to separate it from the Archives Building and the gardens below the Arc Path. Access roads have been opened to permit removal of excavated material. The first stage of excavation has been completed and rock bolts have been installed, allowing the construction of the first retaining wall to begin.

The extension of the main Terrace of the Shrine of the Bab eastwards to make it symmetrical with the western half will provide a large underground storage area of great practical use in the care of the gardens. The excavations for this extension have now been completed and foundations are being laid.

On the site of the Terraces from the Shrine of the Bab leading down to 'Abbas Street, over two hundred valuable trees were carefully dug up and have been temporarily replanted on the Temple Land until they can be returned to the area of the Terraces after regrading of the mountainside. Now the remaining trees, undergrowth, topsoil and existing structures have been removed. The material from the excavations on the Arc is being moved to this area to provide the fill needed for the Terraces.

Phase Three will involve the construction of the Centre for the Study of the Texts and the Archives Extension, and is scheduled to begin in July 1992. It 1s to be followed by several other phases to complete the projects, and announcements about these will be made in due course.

It can thus be seen that the work is in full flow. The flow of funds to finance the work must likewise be uninterrupted. The Universal House of Justice is confident that the followers of Bahá'u'lláh will bend every effort to bring to speedy completion this stage in the fulfilment of the beloved Guardian's vision of the establishment of the World Administrative Centre of the Cause of God. It assures the friends in every land of its ardent prayers in the Holy Shrines for the successful completion of the great enterprises before the Bahá'í world at one of the most critical periods in human history.

With loving Bahá'í greetings,
For Department of the Secretariat

cc: The Hands of the Cause of God
The International Teaching Centre
Counsellors