Dallas Hall - SMU - Separated at Birth? - Thos Jefferson's Monticello
Posted on 03/11/2006 8:06:21 PM PST by PAR35
Exclusive: Still under wraps, proposal likely to be batch of buildings for tourists, scholars
In an aggressive bid to win the Bush presidential library, SMU envisions a complex of buildings that could include a high-tech museum and archives, a school of politics, a conference center and offices, all aimed at raising the school's national profile and making it a prime destination for scholars and tourists.
A spokesman for the National Archives in Washington confirmed that Southern Methodist University retained Hillier Architecture of Princeton, N.J., to prepare a conceptual master plan for the coveted project, tentatively plotted in the southeastern quadrant of the campus, bounded roughly by Airline Road, North Central Expressway and SMU Boulevard.
In the hunt for the new Bush library, Texas Tech University wants to place it and companion buildings on 100 acres in Lubbock, where "space is ample and vehicle friendly." The other finalists, Baylor University in Waco and the University of Dallas, also have offered large swaths of land – although federal guidelines have no specific size requirement for the library and museum site.
For its part, SMU hopes to turn what its competitors see as a liability – its cramped urban setting – into an asset. SMU says it has plenty of space, that it is highly visible, adjacent to retail developments, a freeway, a light-rail line and crosstown street, with links to two major airports.
(Excerpt) Read more at dallasnews.com ...
Why not put the Bush library in Compton, Calif., where Bush lived with his family in 1949-1950? The Bushes lived in an apartment house, which First Lady Barbara described as "lovely," at the corner of Santa Fe and Myrrh, just south of downtown Compton. The building was torn down around 2002.
Thanks for posting--they're my choice (and one of 2 alma maters). All right! More details:
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"...
University's ties
SMU has been viewed widely as the front-runner because of its many ties to President Bush and his wife, Laura, a SMU graduate and member of its board of trustees. SMU even touts on its Web site its connections to the Bush administration. Mrs. Bush has indicated the couple will divide their post-White House life between their ranch in Crawford and a home in Dallas.
The selection panel, led in part by former Commerce Secretary Don Evans, is expected to make a decision this year. It's possible Mr. Bush would want the library and archives at SMU but place other elements with one or more of the finalists. ..."
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I always thought UT-Permian Basin would have been the logical place, but it wasn't even in the running.
SMU has to be in the lead at this point, unless there is some Perot factor involved of which I'm not aware. They have no real ties to the other schools, and I think they used to be members of HPUMC, which is located at the corner of the campus.
Baylor is close to Crawford, but that is about all that it has in its favor. UofD has never made any sense to me. It's close to DFW airport, but why would they pick a small Catholic school unless they have secretly converted. And Texas Tech doesn't really have much to recommend it as a site. (It's a fine school, but it has no ties to Bush and it isn't near anything.)
Right now, with no legitimate basis for doing so, I'd have to rank them as SMU, Baylor, TT, and UofD.
Is UTPB in Odessa or Midland? I think it's Odessa and ummm, a Midland person might not want to ... oh yeah, he's the Leader of the Free World -- I guess HS football rivalries wouldn't matter, heh.
Come to think of it, he did live in Lubbock for a while, didn't he? Working on his Congressional campaign? Lemme see if I can google sumpin up about that ... yeppers, his headquarters was there in 1978, but I'm not sure he actually lived there.
It was the voters of Lubbock who defeated him, however, since he was running against a homeboy. It's *all* West Texas, though - so maybe it's a little ahead of Baylor. They did say in the article he might split up parts of the archival memorabilia in other places than the main library and visitors center.
Hope he stops the worldwide "Hook 'em Horns" while this selection is being debated, lol, except when Jenna is around. Laura did go to grad school there, but that doesn't count!
I was kind of surprised that they intend to have a home in Dallas, but I guess they lived there before, because of the Texas Rangers baseball team (?). What? They don't want to have a spare room at Poppy & Bar's here in Houston? Guess we need to spread the Bushes around Texas more.
I would not advise them to put a library in Compton, CA. Too many gangs there.
*I love a Palladio!*
Hadrian's Pantheon, of course (originally Agrippa's design--see the inscription?). Rome! The shining city on the hill(s). That's a good possibility. Now, if they'll make me curator and give me a villa in Tuscany, I'll work for next to nothing. Would Dubya want to be buried next to Raphael (or vice versa)?
In reading the article, I see that the land SMU wants to give is NOT where I thought it might be - the site of the former Mrs Baird's bakery across Central Expwy to the SE. Oh, the smell of the bread baking every morning! Wonderful wake-up call. They would bring over piping hot loaves to our dorm and huge crocks of apple butter. Loved it.
But it's not going to be there. Back to the west and further north. Gotta googlemap that, too. Just to make sure it's in view of the Rotunda!
Lots of people who live there (in Compton) still have mineral properties in Oklahoma, because my ex was a petroleum landman and had to try to track them down to get their division orders signed.
Okies ended up in some mighty strange parts of CA with the Dust Bowl. But I guess that was fairly close to Long Beach and the Signal Hill oil production--perhaps why they (the Okies earlier and/or the Bushes later) went out there to begin with.
I didn't know the Bushes lived there 1949-50. Learn something new every day. Thanks for the info.
You are correct on all points. I'll bet they would have opened an 'East Campus' in Midland for that, however.
Will the Tax Payers flip the bill for the Bush Library or will President Bush have to shake people down for cash as was done by Billy to build his library in Arkansas?
I think it will be built by donation but run with tax money. They've changed the rules in recent years. I think Nixon's library is the only one not on the dole. (And of course, Jefferson Davis's library, which was badly damaged by Katrina - contributions welcome.)
Here's a FAQ on funding - I was right:
http://www.archives.gov/presidential-libraries/faqs/#8
"# A Presidential library is constructed with private or non-Federal funds donated to non-profit organizations established usually for the express purpose of building a Presidential library and supporting its programs.
# Some libraries have also received construction and development funding from state and/or local governments.
# The library is then transferred to the Federal government and operated and maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) through its congressionally appropriated operating budget."
and Nixon:
"The Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda, California is a privately funded and operated institution and is not a part of the Presidential Library System operated by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)."
Isn't SMU planning on using eminent domaine to get enough space for the Bush facility? Rather ironic, if true.
sounds good to me.
Not if it's on the SE side of campus. They already own or have been buying back that land. SMU at one time owned all the land from there up to NW Hwy, I believe.
I don't think they have used any eminent domain. They have been buying up property on the open market as it becomes available.
What you may be thinking of is their practice of buying up enough condo units in a development to gain control, and then squeezing out the remaining owners. Hardball tactics, but no eminent domain.
I've heard from folks who play in the Dallas commerical real estate game that SMU has jumped across Central and is buying up proprties toward Greenville, They've gone south of Mockingbird at Central (the old bakery proprty), and they created a lot of controvery when they built a new parking garage in a residential area north of the traditional campus boundary. As far as I know, they haven't gone west of Hillcrest.
Yes, the plot they're talking about in the article is already University-owned. I think people were at first thinking it would be over there where the Park Cities motel is/was and/or the shopping center just north of it, on Preston. This is on the opposite side of the campus from that, east.
This said Airline Rd. at SMU Blvd. I can't picture exactly that piece of ground, since I haven't been on campus in a verrry long time, but I know my first dorm space was right about there (SMU Blvd is also Yale Blvd), but I only stayed 3-4 days and got outta there into a better place. It was an old rundown apt bldg at the time, a long long time ago, and we had a housing shortage and I transferred in late from OU. (Boomers.)
I've determined from the aerial maps that the view of the Rotunda might be obstructed. Therefore, I say "build it higher." LOL
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