Previous Shop Talk: Millions for Computer Science, an Old Building for Law, a New Complex for Fashion |
Next |
February 21, 2008, 02:38 PM ET
Southern Methodist Will Sign Deal With George W. Bush Library on Friday, Reports Say
After a full year of negotiation, Southern Methodist University and the George W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation have nearly completed a final agreement under which the university would be the host site for the president’s library. The university will announce the deal during a public ceremony on Friday, the SMU student newspaper, The Daily Campus, reported this afternoon.
“The Board of Trustees will be voting on the agreement with the Bush Foundation tomorrow,” wrote Patricia LaSalle, the university’s executive director of public affairs, in an e-mail message to The Chronicle this evening. “If all goes as expected, we will have a news conference at noon on campus.”
Several Texas universities competed to serve as host for the presidential library and museum, but Southern Methodist was named the sole finalist in December 2006. The planned facility, which is expected to cost more than $500-million, has not been universally welcomed by the university’s faculty members, some of whom have objected especially to plans for a conservative policy institute that would not fall under Southern Methodist’s governance. But other faculty members have said that they expect the library to raise the university’s profile and to enrich its intellectual life.
The library has also generated debate within the United Methodist Church. Last month, a group of liberal church activists said they would challenge the library plan when a regional governing body of the church meets in July. But that campaign is not viewed as likely to have any practical impact on the university’s plans.
Robert A.M. Stern Architects is expected to design the library. —David Glenn
Add Your Comment
Commenting is closed.