Excerpt
The following is from the Dec. 22, 2006, edition of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

SMU has the inside track on presidential library

By ANNA M. TINSLEY and EVA-MARIE AYALA
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITERS

DALLAS -- If this were a game of horseshoes, the SMU Mustangs could declare themselves the winners.

Southern Methodist University is now the lone candidate in negotiations for the George W. Bush Presidential Library.

University President R. Gerald Turner announced Thursday that he had received a call from the president's library selection committee telling him that specific negotiations will proceed after the new year.

"We're not announcing that it's coming here, but it's as good of an announcement as we can give you," Turner said. "This is the best stage we can be in now."

For now, that means Baylor University in Waco and the University of Dallas near Texas Stadium in Irving are out of the running.

If a deal is struck that satisfies both parties, SMU would be home to Texas' third presidential library. The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum is in Austin and George H.W. Bush's library is in College Station.

But the committee could go back to the two other finalists for more discussion. A final decision could come in a few months.

SMU officials, students and supporters said the library negotiations represent a great opportunity.

"It doesn't matter what your politics are," said Dawn Moore, an SMU graduate and Dallas lawyer. "What history we've had in his eight years is all of our history.

"It will be great for SMU."

The university has released few details of its plan, but it has long been considered a front-runner because it is first lady Laura Bush's alma mater. She is also an SMU trustee.

Turner, however, said officials never relied on their connection to the first lady.

He said the university has been in a strong position to land the library because SMU is a top-caliber university and is situated in a major metropolitan area with many other attractions. University officials said they have proposed various campus sites, although they declined to comment on them Thursday.

Among the sites is the Park Cities Plaza shopping center at Mockingbird Lane and Central Expressway.

It was recently purchased with part of a $35 million gift from SMU Trustee and businessman Ray Hunt.

Another site is the University Gardens condominium complex on the eastern edge of campus.

A federal judge ruled this month that SMU has clear title to the property.

University officials called it a key ruling because the land had been tied up in a lawsuit since last year.

The previous owners plan to appeal and said that could keep the land locked in litigation for another year or so.

Other proposals

The selection committee has gradually narrowed the list of library suitors. Arlington was knocked out last fall, and a West Texas bid centered on Texas Tech University was dismissed in March.

"They wouldn't be going public with this if they didn't want to encourage SMU and let them know it's theirs for the taking," said Bruce Buchanan, a government professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

Baylor officials said they haven't given up hope.

Tommye Lou Davis, director of the Bush library project for Baylor, said Don Evans, the selection committee chairman, called Thursday to say the panel was exclusively negotiating with SMU. But Evans told her that "no final decision had been made, and Baylor University has not been eliminated," she said.

Baylor's proposal would have included putting the library and any other desired facility -- from a walk of presidents to a Little League ballpark -- on more than 150 acres along the Brazos River.

At the University of Dallas in Irving, the proposal called for putting the library on about 300 mostly wooded acres at Texas 114 and Loop 12. About two-thirds of the land is owned by the university; the rest is owned by Dallas.

University President Frank Lazarus issued a short statement saying that "no official decision has yet been made."

A costly legacy

Media reports have estimated that Bush's lasting legacy could cost $200 million to $500 million, with help from "mega-donors" who could kick in as much as $20 million apiece.

Some skeptics aren't so sure that Bush can raise that much money, especially during a time of war and general discontent with the president.

But George Edwards, a political science professor and a specialist in presidential studies at Texas A&M University, said the library will be a "mark of prestige."

"By the time it is actually built and open for business, hopefully the irritation over the war will have died down," he said.

The library is expected to attract scholars and students, to generate economic development and to draw prestigious visitors, including the president.

IN THE KNOW

A closer look A George W. Bush library at SMU would be the third presidential library in Texas. The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum is in Austin and George H.W. Bush's library is in College Station.

The libraries house presidential papers, correspondence and memorabilia.

The most recent to open was the William J. Clinton Library and Museum in 2004. The 28-acre Little Rock facility is the second-largest, behind the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, and cost $165 million.

The George Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station cost $83 million.

The construction of most presidential libraries is financed by private donations. Once built, they are mostly run by the National Archives and Records Administration.