The Birthplace of Bubba.
Posted on 02/15/2005 6:12:53 AM PST by mountaineer
Fayetteville’s future still may include a Clinton-themed museum.
The Advertising and Promotion Commission favored a proposal Monday to lease and ultimately purchase the former home of Bill and Hillary Clinton from the University of Arkansas, but its members sought more information before agreeing to seek a contract.
Commission Executive Director Marilyn Heifner and Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Allyson Twiggs introduced the business plan Monday at the group’s monthly meeting.
Twiggs considered the Clinton house Fayetteville’s best opportunity to cooperate with tourist efforts in other parts of the state while adding another perspective on the lives of Bill and Hillary Clinton in Arkansas. "No one thought this was a bad idea," she said of the various people with which she and Heifner had talked about the potential museum. "Everyone wants the Clinton legacy to succeed in Arkansas, and they feel this could be a final piece of the puzzle."
Among the issues on commissioners’ minds were potential asbestos contamination, structural safety and restroom requirements if it became a tourist destination. ...
(Excerpt) Read more at nwanews.com ...
Related story:
FAYETTEVILLE -- The Fayetteville Advertising & Promotion Commission staff wants to commemorate President Bill Clinton and Sen. Hillary Clinton's life in Fayetteville by opening a museum on the couple's 30th wedding anniversary in October.
Allyson Twiggs, manager of the Convention and Visitors Bureau, presented a business plan Monday to the commission.
The plan proposes hiring one full-time employee to manage the house at 930 California Blvd., at which an estimated 20,000 people would pay $5 to tour.
The University of Arkansas agreed to purchase the home for $249,950 in December. The UA System Board of Trustees approved the purchase in January.
Former owners Jim and Janet Greeson purchased the house from the Clintons in 1983 and decided to move because of the increased traffic around the university.
The one-bedroom, one-bathroom house was built in 1931. Bill and Hillary Clinton lived in the home from August 1973 to December 1976 and were married there Oct. 11, 1975, while they taught at the UA law school.
Don Pederson, UA vice chancellor for finance and administration, said at the time of the purchase that the UA could hold the house until a nonprofit group could afford to operate a museum. Pederson also mentioned that the building could be used for academic purposes.
Marilyn Heifner, director of convention and visitor development for the commission, said the university gave the commission the option to purchase the house, lease it or enter into a lease- to-purchase agreement.
The commission on Monday directed the staff to move forward while considering other issues, such as the home's structural liability.
A structural assessment reported the house is functional but needs about $75,000 in improvement, such as strengthening the floor frames and repairing a separation wall in the basement that is dislodged.
The house would also have to be rezoned if the commission eventually purchased it.
The current zoning provides for residential single-family housing, which does not permit museums. The UA does not have to follow city zoning requirements, but an A&P-funded museum would.
Heifner suggested that entering into a lease-to-purchase agreement would allow the commission to determine the needed repairs and gauge interest.
The business plan proposes a static display, using memorabilia and photographs to catalog the Clintons' experience in Fayetteville.
Heifner suggested creating a video of the Clintons touring the home, telling stories about special places in the residence. She pointed out that a similar idea had been used in Hope, where Clinton lived when he was born.
"It's something that can't be duplicated anywhere else," Heifner said. "I really feel we ought to give the Clintons a call and say, 'Hey, we're going to do this. What do you think about it?'"
The staff isn't planning to redecorate the home to make it look like it did when the Clintons occupied it.
"We really don't want to get into buying a replica couch until we see that's the direction visitors want to go," Heifner said.
Commissioners also pointed out that there is only one bathroom on premises and parking is limited. Heifner said the former youth center, across the street from the house, could be used for parking.
Twiggs acknowledged there are issues with the house but said the home has the potential to generate tourism.
"We either grab it and see what happens or we don't," she said. "It's not an ideal place, but it's where they lived."
Heifner said the house would provide an important link to other Arkansas cities with Clinton ties.
"We need a new product as well in Fayetteville," she said. "This would be a great tool that could link our market to the rest of the state's market. Sometimes, we operate in a vacuum here."
The opening of the Clinton Presidential Library in November has increased Clinton-related tourism throughout the state, Twiggs said.
"This is a good product right now," she said. "This could complete the puzzle of the Clintons' life in Arkansas. Everyone wants the Clinton legacy to succeed in Arkansas. This is the last piece of the puzzle they need."
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2005/02/15/news/fayetteville/01fzap.txt
I'd love to win the lotto, buy the house, and burn the damn thing down!
Not as much as they had hoped, according to various news reports. If only they'd put that blue dress on display ...
"I'd love to win the lotto, buy the house and burn the damn thing down"... Probably the only way it's will come down, so much S**t holding it down now. They sure would have alot of ugly pictures to hang on the walls. hillary and those god awful strip pants, bongs and who knows what else. I'm with you burn the darn thing
So why would Bill and Hill's old house in Fayetteville attract many?
Yes, but it was their love shack. Who wouldn't want to see the site of their youthful passion?
*ack! gag!*
| Clinton Home | ||||||
 |
||||||
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
Description: President and Mrs. Clinton's first home together, purchased while they were law professors at the University. The Clintons were married in the living room of this home in 1975. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
||||||
| Attraction Type: Historical. |
"Oh, Clinton's legacy is set in stone: Monica and Impeachment. Even in Arkansas, that is his legacy." Amen to that!
"This is nothing more than a group of Clintonites trying to use taxpayer money to fund a project to their fallen hero."
I'll never understand it! What can anyone possibly see in that man other than what a con-man he was and continues to be. Oh, he's so smart! He's so politically astute! He's a rapist and a self-promoter. Right up there with "Worst President Ever," Carter! I just wish a black hole would swallow them both. I'd even put up with the mandatory black armbands and months of public mourning just to be rid of them once and for all!
"Everyone wants the Clinton legacy to succeed in Arkansas, and they feel this could be a final piece of the puzzle."
Yes, that will probably do it.
The illegal campaign contributions, the missle technology to the Chinese, the funding of the Korean nuclear program, the blowjobs, the rapes, the pardon sale, the nuclear proliferation, the incubation of fundamentalist islamic terrorism on a global scale, a million dead Rwandans, and the rest will all be wiped from the historical record because some dingbat biddies in Fayetville made a shrine of the shack where Bill used to bang Hillary and assorted unwilling college girls.
There’s a plan.
Maybe this team could search for more Clinton "legacy."
That is what I always heard. Now, there will probably be all kinds of house spouting of that the Clintons "own" at one time or another.
Don't forget Mena drug running, Whitewater, Stephens, Tyson, the $100,000 futures jackpot, and the various other pre-presidential legacy highpoints of the Clintons' careers.
They are wasting their money. No one, and I mean no one is traveling to Little Rock to visit the Clinton trash house. The Bill Clinton Library is a total failure on all counts!!! Maybe, just maybe, Charlie Rangel and Chris Rock will trudge down to Little Rock for a visit to "Bubba's" trailer.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
