Ninjatune™

lollz.... ouch... it was today's "WORD"

*edit: yesterday's word..

__________________

. . . . . . . .ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD!

jsoto3

Third video in list, "SMAFU":
http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/...ort/index.jhtml

tamtagon

Maybe the folks at SMU concerned about a Bush Institute halo effect tarnishing the school's reputation would find a more productive end by navigating the university to establish its own 'think tank' on the prospects of democratic freedom around the world. Bring some of the He Said, She Said world of intellectual politics to Dallas.

mjblazin

The reputation that needs correction is that SMU is a school for rich kids with so-so academics that could not get into UT Austin or a top out of state school. Until SMU fixes that impression, concerns about the impact of a Presidential library, even the Millard Fillmore Library, seem overdone to me.

Regardless of political beliefs, are there any Public Affairs faculty members that would seriously be considered for slots at the Hoover Institute or a Bush Institute that would expect to attract the same caliber as Hoover. I looked at the Hoover fellows list. If SMU has those kinds of people in its public affairs/government area, he/she must not have a very high profile locally.

Insidetheloop

Got a link on that?

mjblazin

My perception was from interaction with private school parents/students in middle of application process. I did a quick scan of vault.com and epinions and found both similar and contradictory opinions. Bottom line: that perception, wrong or right, is out there and held by many people.

That doesn't say SMU doesn't provide great networking and contacts. Apparently the pipeline from SMU Law to the big Dallas firms is unparalleled. Or great social opportunities. Or some schools, business and engineering(??) that have generally accepted high national ratings. The complaints against the library were that it would hurt the overall academic reputation and somehow sully the overall faculty. It was in that area that I made comments.

tamtagon

Ya, that's the SMU impression I formed when deciding where to go to college. Then after living in East Dallas for several months with plenty of academic exposure to the SMU student body, my impression was refined to consider that an above average number of the student body found a spoiled brat's existance to be more admirable than an innovative intellectual's. That's a pretty easy thing to change, though.

F4shionablecHa0s

Collegeboard.com and a few months in East Dallas. They should make you dean of student life. You're a regular expert on us SMU students!

DFWCRE8TIVE

SMU faculty won't vote on Bush institute
Senate rejects bid for referendum on whether to support oversight
08:15 PM CST on Wednesday, February 7, 2007
By HOLLY K. HACKER / The Dallas Morning News
hhacker@dallasnews.com
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...ty.136f7a6.html

Professors at Southern Methodist University won't get to vote on whether they support an institute that would be part of the Bush Presidential Library that's probably headed to campus, the Faculty Senate decided Wednesday.

Last month, more than 170 of SMU's 609 full-time faculty members signed a petition asking for a referendum on whether the institute should be separate from SMU, as President Bush's library selection committee wants, or have university oversight. Such a vote would have been nonbinding.

The Faculty Senate "firmly defeated" the request Wednesday, Senate President Rhonda Blair said after the meeting, which was closed to the public.

...

jsoto3

Not sure if this was posted already. Discussion on Think:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?d...026308823&hl=en

DFWCRE8TIVE

Methodist panel OKs Bush library plan
02:32 PM CDT on Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Associated Press
http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/d...y.115ec682.html



DALLAS — A Methodist council on Wednesday gave approval for Southern Methodist University to lease land for George W. Bush's presidential library.

The South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church voted 10-4, with one member abstaining. The group must approve leasing any land already in use by the school, and the proposed 36-acre site on the southeast side of campus contains some dorms and a parking lot.

In his presentation to the council at a Dallas hotel, SMU President R. Gerald Turner said the library, museum and Bush institute may be built on one of two sites in the area. He said plans are not finalized, so "that's why we're not asking for one or the other (parcel)."

The group deliberated behind closed doors about 40 minutes after listening to SMU's proposal and hearing from supporters and opponents.

Before deliberating, one member, Gil Hanke of Nacogdoches, asked if SMU's accreditation would be hurt by its association with the partisan institute that will be run by a private foundation. Turner said no.

Another council member, the Rev. Eddie Allsup of Lubbock, asked if Turner had considered some professors' suggestions to sever the institute from SMU by removing it from campus or if the library and museum complex had to include the institute.

"It's a package deal," Turner said. "It's enormously valuable."

hamiltonpl

For 500 million, that's it? How uninspiring. However, it's a good metaphor for his presidency. So perhaps it is appropriate after all.

__________________
DAGNABBIT!

Lakewooder

How can this be 36 acres?

DFWCRE8TIVE

Lots and lots of surface parking (for all those RVs and tourists)?

mjblazin

The buildings/land are $200 MM and that's with everything goldplated. The balance is the endowment for the institute. The buildings and grounds are for the tourists, local businesses to sell to the tourists, a place for PhDs to lounge, pretty pictures for SMU catalog/web site, even a central place for protesters if they still care. The real action will be at the institute and that's why political opponents focus on it.

hamiltonpl

It kind of reminds me of the Monolithic Dome in Italy, TX.

__________________
DAGNABBIT!

Insidetheloop

Or better yet how can you put a pond on The Hilltop? It's supposed to fit the existing look of the buildings(Georgian?). Something oddball would not fit at all.

The rumor I hear is that Mrs. Bairds will become a high rise dorm/condo/apartment complex and the entire section of land from La Madeline clear over to the shotput/discus field at the corner of SMU Blvd/US75. This information came from a guy who is a bus driver for the SMU Shuttle/Buses By Bill. He recently drove around a bunch of city officials, school officials, law enforcement, government officials, official officials and official official officials while they discussed the secret library plans. Things are moving rapidly and he said that in May his bus route will change completely due to the pre-construction. His new route takes out anything in that library construction area.

SMU tore down one of the engineering buildings yesterday near the corner of Ownby and Dyer. Not related to the library, but an interesting development in the ever evolving SMU campus.

Insidetheloop

WFAA pulls image of purported library plans
Mark Norris, Editor In Chief, mnorris@smu.edu
Issue date: 3/22/07 Section: News
PrintEmail Article Tools Page 1 of 1
[Click to enlarge]


An image that was purported to be the design for George W. Bush Presidential Library has been removed from WFAA.com after an inquiry by The Daily Campus.

An image of the complex appeared in a story dated March 14, 2007 about the Methodist Church's approval to lease land for the library project.

"That picture has nothing to do with SMU," said Patti LaSalle, SMU's associate vice president for Public Affairs.

The Daily Campus discovered the image Wednesday, which would have been the first visualization of the library complex. SMU officials have kept details of the bid secret throughout the evaluation process with the library selection committee.

They will not release any particulars about the complex until an agreement is reached with the selection committee.

The image shows a futuristic-looking white structure with a sizeable body of water adjacent to the building. Both would have been a departure from what is expected in the bid - a compact complex done in a style that would fit in with the Georgian campus architecture.

Credit for the image is given to The Dallas Morning News as a file photo. The caption says the image is "a model of the proposed Bush library." Both the DMN and WFAA-Channel 8 are owned by the Belo Corporation.

Officials from WFAA told SMU the image would be removed from the story immediately. They told the school they had no explanation as to how the computer rendering appeared with the story, and they do not know where it came from.

WFAA officials say they plan to look into how the mistake occurred and get an answer for the university.

Lakewooder

From today's Daily Campus:

http://media.www.smudailycampus.com...l-2793352.shtml

WFAA image was UD model
Mark Norris, Editor In Chief, mnorris@smu.edu
Issue date: 3/27/07 Section: News

An image that was purported to be the design for George W. Bush Presidential Library is actually the University of Dallas' model for their failed bid for the complex. It was unveiled to the public at a January news conference announcing the school's withdrawal from the library race.

An image of the complex appeared in a story dated March 14 about the Methodist Church's approval to lease land for the library project.

Officials from WFAA told SMU Thursday that the image would be removed or the correct caption inserted, but as of Monday night neither had been done.

Credit for the image is given to The Dallas Morning News as a file photo. The caption says the image is "a model of the proposed Bush library." Both the DMN and WFAA-Channel 8 are owned by the Belo Corporation.

DFWCRE8TIVE

Voters approve land sale for Bush library
12:27 AM CDT on Sunday, May 13, 2007
From Staff Reports
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...u.6216b55f.html

University Park voters overwhelmingly approved the sale of a strip of land to SMU, which covets the parkland as part of its bid for the George W. Bush Presidential Library.

Early voters overwhelmingly approved the potential sale, with 81 percent of the more than 2,200 voters supporting the referendum. Only about 125 voters turned out for the city’s last election, which included several charter amendments.

SMU, which requested the election and has agreed to cover all costs, learned in December that it's the lone finalist to host the hotly contested facility.

No formal announcement has been made, but President Bush said in January that he's "leaning heavily" toward choosing SMU as the home for his library.

SMU President Gerald Turner confirmed early this year that his university could use the property for student housing, intramural fields or the Bush library. He also said that SMU has wanted to acquire the property since the university revised its master plan in the mid-1990s, and would be pursuing it whether or not the library was an option.

University officials have refused to provide details about their plans for the site, saying that they haven't developed a master plan for the area.

State law requires an election any time a city wants to sell a park or green space to a private entity.

University Park will have the land reappraised if the sale is approved, but a July appraisal put the value at $1.6 million.

The final price tag will probably be higher because all adjacent properties have increased in value in recent years, according to Dallas Central Appraisal District records.

Patti LaSalle, SMU's associate vice president and executive director of public affairs, said that if voters approve the sale, the university has agreed to pay University Park whatever an independent appraiser says the land is worth.

The ballot proposition stipulates that the city must use all proceeds to buy or improve other city parks.

City leaders would like to spend about $5.6 million on park improvements between 2007 and 2011, according to a capital improvement plan provided by the city.

tamtagon

Does SMU have any plans to expand on the East side of Central? Since a new, more formal entrance and boulevard seems planned with the new library, it's easy to envision a university expansion to make Yale @ Greenville the main entrance.

LH_Newbie

Isn't Central the dividing line between Dallas and HP/UP? Wondering if this would make it more difficult to do such a thing.

freewaytincan

the most difficult part of that is that there are office towers and mockingbird station in the way. there's plenty of parking lots and houses on the west side to take out first.

DFWCRE8TIVE

UP crosses 75 in one area (at University).

http://www.uptexas.org/images/uploads/upmap.pdf

DFWCRE8TIVE

Prescott Realty has a page on their site about Mockingbird Station development. I think they own the land around those towers for future development.

http://www.prescottrealtygroup.com/index.php?id=148

"Currently in the early planning stages of a multi-phase development centered around SMU, the DART rail station and Mockingbird Station."
(http://www.prescottrealtygroup.com/index.php?id=92)

freewaytincan

i don't want to get anyone's hopes up, but those renderings look pretty amazing.

all in all, i don't see a reason for smu to expand across central, unless desperate measures called for it. the only time i've seen a highway split a campus like that personally is james madison university in harrisonburg, virginia, and it seems pretty inconvenient there.

Hannibal Lecter

They own the closed UA Cine theater on Yale Blvd.

Memories of 2001: A Space Odyssey (oiginal release), Star Trek I opening night, and a sneak preview of some flick called "Top Gun".....

cowboyeagle05

Not if a multi million dollar park is built across the highway in a attempt to give credit to the Bushes and SMU giving parkland back to the citizens instead of a concrete canyon.

__________________

dallasrookie

Hmmm oxy(moron) Bush and Library

downtownguy25

Dallasrookie, not to be rude but how old are you. Seems from the majority of your posts that you are younger. I am thinking highschool age.

dallasrookie

Not to be rude, but i am close to your age.

dallasrookie

After some consideration, I would like to strike those comment from the record, (want to keep the integrity of the this forum and topic from straying)

freewaytincan

good call. we've already been through the political "debate" in here.

noelamador

Bush Library appears to be a lock at SMU
Exclusive: Letter soliciting design firms spells out details of complex
12:09 AM CDT on Sunday, June 10, 2007
By MICHAEL GRANBERRY and DAVID DILLON / The Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...ry.37f899a.html

SMU's efforts to land the George W. Bush Presidential Library became all but certain Saturday, when officials from local architectural firms admitted having been approached in recent days about designing the high-profile project on the Park Cities campus.

The Dallas Morning News obtained an 11-page solicitation document that for the first time pinpoints the library's desired location, "adjacent to the SMU campus," involving two large buildings whose design must incorporate the "spirit" of the Bush presidency.

Several Texas firms and more from around the country have been asked to submit their qualifications by Friday, although the invitation is being met with mixed results – with some eager to take part and another saying they aren't suited for the job.

Meanwhile, SMU officials said Saturday that they were unaware of the invitations sent to architectural firms but noted they had not expected to be a part of that process.

"What you described is something that's the purview of the site selection committee," said Brad Cheves, an SMU vice president. "And it's not surprising the committee would be working through an in-depth process before they make the final decision."

SMU learned in December that it was the lone finalist to host the library, earning it a blitz of national publicity. Private fundraising already is being considered, and backers have estimated the library will cost at least $200 million.

One of the most significant details from the proposal is that the project will be split into two buildings, the apparent fix for SMU in dealing with a mostly land-locked urban campus. The Bush project calls for a 145,000-square-foot library and a 40,000-square-foot public policy institute.

Those firms deemed the most qualified will be asked to submit management plans by July 25. A short list of four or fewer firms will be interviewed the week of July 30 in Washington.

"It's such a significant commission that I would think any architectural firm would be pleased to be a part of it," said Ralph Hawkins, president and CEO of HKS Architects, whose firm received the invitation proposal. HKS is designing the Dallas Cowboys' new $1 billion stadium in Arlington.


'Distinct character'

The solicitation document, dated May 24, also says the library must comply with SMU's "distinct architectural character."

For one local architect who got the proposal request, that alone was enough to cause him to back out.

"They want it to be part of the SMU vernacular, architecturally – which I don't disagree with," said Lionel Morrison, president of Morrison Seifert Murphy.

"We don't do Georgian architecture," said Mr. Morrison, referring to the campus' prevailing red-brick style. "We're modern architects and that's all we do. And so, we're not well-suited architecturally, we're not well-suited culturally and then there's also the political issue, which maybe we shouldn't even talk about. For those reasons, and that's reason enough, we're not terribly interested."

Mr. Morrison said that with 20 firms being invited to the selection process, "even if it were a level playing field, and it never is, you've got only a one in five chance. We just elected not to pursue it."

Mr. Hawkins and Mr. Morrison said they understood that other firms invited include: HOK in Dallas; Good Fulton & Farrell in Dallas; David M. Schwarz, architect of American Airlines Center and The Ballpark in Arlington; Overland Partners in San Antonio; Beck Architecture in Dallas; Larry Speck, an Austin architect; Lake/Flato Architects in San Antonio; Cesar Pelli in New Haven, Conn; and Hammond Beeby Rupert Ainge in Chicago, architects of the new Meadows Museum at SMU.


HKS said it is thrilled at being considered. "We did the Texas History Museum in Austin, and we've done other, similar work, so we feel it would be very appropriate for us to do this," said Mr. Hawkins of HKS.

But Mr. Hawkins said it is a project fraught with challenges. He cited land and parking issues as two of the primary concerns.

He said he recently discussed the library with an official from the Clinton library in Little Rock, Ark., where parking has been a much bigger problem that anyone anticipated. "We realize," said Mr. Hawkins, "that we would have to be very sensitive to surrounding neighborhoods."

The proposal does not say exactly where the library will be located, only that it will be next to the campus "on property that SMU has recently acquired."

Neither SMU nor the Bush selection panel have said exactly where the library complex would go, although SMU has given the overall boundaries, on the southeast side of campus: SMU Boulevard to the north, Central Expressway to the east, Mockingbird Lane to the south and Airline Road and Dublin Street to the west.

SMU President Gerald Turner has said the complex would take up just a part of that land, which totals 36 acres. The university has bought several big pieces in that area in recent years, including the University Gardens condominiums and Park Cities Plaza.

A former resident and owner at University Gardens has sued SMU, alleging it ousted condo owners and underpaid them to get their land for the library. SMU has said it did nothing illegal.

Many professors have spoken out against the library complex, specifically the institute. Some professors have said that a partisan institute does not belong on the campus of a university, which welcomes all points of view.

And some members of the United Methodist Church have opposed the library at SMU, saying that various policies of the Bush administration, such as the war in Iraq, go against Methodist teachings.


'Celebrate' presidency

According to the invitation proposal the library must "commemorate and celebrate the accomplishments" of President Bush. And the firms are asked for their "thoughts on how the spirit of the presidency of George W. Bush can be incorporated into the architecture."

A spokesman for Don Evans, the former Commerce Secretary who heads the library selection committee, said Saturday that no final decision had been made on the library's location or design, despite the specific language in the proposal to the design firms.

"This is an ongoing part of the process. The committee wanted to look at architectural options as part of the final decision-making," said Taylor Griffin, the spokesman.

Milton Babbitt, the vice president of 3D/I, the Texas firm hired by the George W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation to be project manager for the design and construction of the building, said he expects the winning architect to be chosen by early August.

Staff writer Holly Hacker and staff writer Todd J. Gillman in Washington contributed to this report.


Moving Ahead
Highlights of the Bush library at Southern Methodist University, detailed in a solicitation proposal sent to architectural firms in Dallas and elsewhere:

•The library will be "adjacent to the Southern Methodist University campus in Dallas, on property that SMU recently acquired."

•The proposal does not elaborate and give a specific location, but that could mean university-owned land being cleared of old condominiums on the southeast side of the campus, near Mockingbird Lane and North Central Expressway. And in an election last month, SMU obtained a strip of parkland behind Park Cities Plaza, property SMU also owns.

•The Bush project will be made of up two separate buildings, 145,000 square feet for the library and 40,000 square feet for a public policy institute.

•An "interpretive planner" already has been selected whose "work will commence shortly." Another architect will be picked to handle landscaping.

•SMU has a "distinct architectural character [many buildings are of a Georgian style] and it is the ... desire that the library be compatible with" that.

•Firms interested in being considered for the job must submit their qualifications by Friday to 3D/I, a Texas management and design firm acting on behalf of the George W. Bush Library Foundation.

•Those deemed the most qualified will be asked to submit detailed management and construction plans by July 25. Among other issues, they must include "thoughts on how the spirit of the presidency of George W. Bush can be incorporated into the architecture."

•Only the top four or fewer firms will move on to the next phase of competition, which includes interviews the week of July 30 in Washington, possibly suggesting that President Bush or close aides will take part.

•The proposal says the budget hasn't been established, but library backers said earlier it could cost at least $200 million.

SOURCE: George W. Bush Library Foundation

Klondoff

Now that it has been confirmed SMU won the bid for the George Bush Library, does anyone know who the architect will be? I heard there are several firms the university is considering....any idea who those firms may be?

MarkL2023

Im about to go to lunch or Id find it myself but earlier this month the DMN reported who the firms were that turned in a bid. I wanna say 9 did.

MarkL2023

I was WAY off on remembering how many submitted but as promised, heres the article...

Architects apply for Bush library job at SMU

Dallas: Three architects with links to president apply for SMU project


05:37 AM CDT on Monday, July 2, 2007
By BRENDAN McKENNA / The Dallas Morning News
bmckenna@dallasnews.com

WASHINGTON – Planning for the George W. Bush Presidential Library at SMU has taken another step forward with at least three nationally prominent firms competing to design it – and each can play up architectural ties to the president.

From the Texas Rangers' park in Arlington to a memorial in Mr. Bush's home state to an engineering building at his alma mater, the firms are now engaged in a high-stakes contest to gain support from a selection panel that has said the winning design must incorporate the "spirit" of the Bush presidency.

The panel invited more than a dozen firms in Texas and around the country in May to submit their qualifications. Those making the cut will be asked to submit management and construction plans by July 25. The top firms will be interviewed the week of July 30 in Washington.

Most of the firms declined to comment when contacted, but HKS Architects of Dallas, San Antonio-based Overland Partners and Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects of New Haven, Conn., confirmed they submitted the first phase of the application.

Several others, including Morrison Seifert Murphy of Dallas, The Beck Group of Dallas and Lake/Flato Architects of San Antonio, said they had been asked but chose not to take part in the project at Southern Methodist University.

The panel's guidelines call for a pair of buildings – a 145,000-square-foot library and a 40,000-square-foot public policy institute – that are compatible with SMU's "distinct architectural character," mainly the red-brick Georgian style.

Ralph Hawkins, president and chief executive officer of HKS, said he expects competition for the job will be fierce – especially considering the publicity that will come with it.

"They're all very good firms," he said. "If we're not selected, we'd look to collaborate with the winner. We're right here in Dallas; we know the campus very well.

"We'd certainly like to do it ourselves, but we're open to working however the committee would like," he said.

HKS helped design the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington when Mr. Bush was a partner in the baseball club.

"We have worked with the president, and he knows some of the [HKS] team members," Mr. Hawkins said.

HKS also is designing the Dallas Cowboys' new $1 billion stadium in Arlington. And it was the architect of the University of Dallas' Bush library proposal that lost to SMU.

Overland Partners already has one presidential project under its belt, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin. It also designed several projects for the San Antonio Museum of Art and the memorial at College Station for the 12 Aggies killed in the 1999 bonfire collapse.

Among Pelli's award-winning projects are the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles and the Yale University Malone Engineering Center at Mr. Bush's alma mater.

Cesar Pelli, the founding partner of New Haven firm, was named one of the 10 most influential living American architects by the American Institute of Architects in 1991 and won the institute's highest honor in 1995.

Representatives of Overland and Pelli said they are interested in the Bush library but would not elaborate on their plans.

Some firms contacted by the Bush library committee, such as Morrison Seifert Murphy, opted out, saying they don't specialize in the type of design required.

"I totally understand their interest in keeping the integrity of the campus, and I totally agree," said Lionel Morrison, the firm's president. "Many architects [on the list] are just not going to be well suited to this commission."

Lake/Flato also declined so it could focus on other projects, a spokeswoman said.

Kip Daniel, a managing director of Beck, said he didn't believe his firm had the prominence or experience to be a top contender for the design of the library, though he still hopes to play a role.

"We would love to do a project like that, but we just do not have the library experience and government [building] experience to qualify us," he said. "We're probably better suited for the construction side, and we hope to have our hat in that ring."

Mr. Morrison said he understood that other firms invited include: HOK in Dallas; Good Fulton & Farrell in Dallas; Larry Speck, an Austin architect; and Hammond Beeby Rupert Ainge in Chicago, architects of the Meadows Museum at SMU.

A spokesman for former Commerce Secretary Don Evans, who heads the library selection committee, declined to comment.

Neither SMU nor the Bush selection panel has said exactly where the library complex would go, although SMU has given the overall boundaries, on the southeast side of campus: SMU Boulevard to the north, Central Expressway to the east, Mockingbird Lane to the south and Airline Road and Dublin Street to the west.


Key steps for the George W. Bush Presidential Library at SMU:



•The library selection committee will ask design firms to submit management and construction plans by July 25. Up to four finalists will be interviewed the week of July 30 in Washington.

•The project will be made up of two separate buildings, 145,000 square feet for the library and 40,000 square feet for a public policy institute. The committee has not said exactly where the library will be, only that it will be next to the campus "on property that SMU has recently acquired."

•3D/I, the Texas firm hired by the Bush Presidential Library Foundation as a project manager, expects the winning architect to be chosen by early August.

I45Tex

Cool, MarkyPants.

Pelli and Lake/Flato almost always get glowing reviews. It will be painful but interesting to see whether the combination of traditionalist elements or references in the complex (with a loyal opposition among the intelligentsia) and our President are an absolutely irresistible target for (at least short-term) de rigeur derision and intellectual distancing, quite without regard to the quality of the place.

sterling

Much as I love Overland Partners, I can't see them parroting Georgian architecture or twisting tradition around to design this job. They're much too interesting. And though Pelli has done admirable work at Rice University, I don't know if SMU is as open minded as stodgy Rice has been. That leaves HKS; perfectly respectable, local, and already a team player. I would say the fix is in, and that HKS is the "good old boy" choice to "reframe" this presidency. Only a guess of course.

I45Tex

Makes sense, but I'll root for Overland. They can at least twist tradition around for http://www.overlandpartners.com/projects.aspx?intnum=9

AeroD

I just hope the library won't look like the Ballpark or AAC-lite.

__________________
"Who are these people, these faces? Where do they come from? They look like caricatures of used car dealers from Dallas..."

BigD5349

Saw this on the Star Telegram's website... didn't see anyting on the DMN yet.

Architect hired for Bush's presidential library
The Associated Press

DALLAS -- An architectural firm has been hired for George W. Bush's presidential library that is expected to be built at Southern Methodist University.

New York-based Robert A.M. Stern Architects was chosen out of three finalists by a committee, and the decision was finalized after Stern met last week with Bush at his Crawford ranch, presidential library site selection committee chairman Donald L. Evans said Tuesday.

The library selection committee remains in exclusive talks with SMU and a decision is expected later this year, Evans said.

The 11,000-student private university, which is first lady Laura Bush's alma mater, was named the lone finalist in December. Bush has said he is leaning toward SMU.

Some faculty members and Methodist ministers have voiced their opposition to SMU's hosting Bush's library, museum and public policy institute. But the university has overcome several hurdles in landing the project, including receiving approval by a Methodist council for SMU to lease land for the library.

Stern's projects include the Harvard Business School's Baker Library, the Calabasas Civic Center in California and buildings on numerous college campuses, including Stanford University, Georgetown University, Dartmouth College and the University of Michigan. The award-winning firm has been in business 38 years and has 300 employees, according to its Web site.

The other remaining finalist for the presidential library is Baylor University in Waco.

Geaux Tigers

Here's a link to their web site: www.ramsa.com. I wonder what the story is behind the popup?

Most of their stuff looks pretty classical with hints of Georgian thrown in. Nothing like the futuristic trailer parked next to the Arkansas river in Little Rock.

__________________
By the power of greyskull!

DFWCRE8TIVE

Bush Library design firm chosen
N.Y.-based architects old hands at tackling big projects like library
11:37 PM CDT on Tuesday, August 28, 2007
By BRENDAN McKENNA / The Dallas Morning News
bmckenna@dallasnews.com
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...gn.350eee1.html

WASHINGTON – The architects selected to design the most visible incarnation of President Bush's legacy are no strangers to high profile and politically sensitive projects.

Robert A.M. Stern Architects of New York City won the job in an announcement Tuesday, and its founding partner said that bringing together a learning center and a historical site at SMU made the project especially appealing.

"The president, if he were here, he'd say, 'Eventually people will not be so interested in George W. Bush but they will be interested in the ideas, the forums and debates and things that can occur,' " Mr. Stern said. "So I think he and I are on the absolute same wavelength in that respect."

The pick marks a major step in the likely development of the Bush library and museum at SMU, which believes it will result in a bonanza of benefits, from raising its profile nationally to making the campus a tourist destination.

Mr. Stern, who also is dean of the Yale School of Architecture and has done several other projects in Dallas and across Texas, said he was still formulating his vision for a building that, based on the selection panel directive, must incorporate the "spirit" of Mr. Bush's presidency.

"That's the million, the billion-dollar question in these days," he said. "We have to make a building that's very open and welcoming to people that is at the same time dignified. We also want to make a building that is sympathetic to the wonderful architecture of the SMU campus and yet be its own building at the same time."

He did not present an actual design or model to the selection panel, and he would not discuss the possible location. But he said, "There's a wonderful site available for the library that will have more than enough space to meet its needs."

Stern Architects, which he founded 38 years ago, was among three finalists chosen from roughly a dozen nationally prominent architectural firms invited in June to apply to design the library.

The New York firm beat out two Texas finalists – Lawrence W. Speck Studio of PageSoutherlandPage in Austin and Overland Partners of San Antonio – interviewed by a five-member committee led by first lady Laura Bush.

The president and Mrs. Bush decided on Mr. Stern after meeting him Aug. 23 at their ranch in Crawford.

The Stern firm has designed projects including the architectural face of blue jeans giant The Gap Inc., a computer science center named for Microsoft co-founder William Gates, and resorts, offices and hotels around the world for the Walt Disney Co.

It also is familiar with tackling the historical legacy of presidents, having designed the building that houses the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan and working on the American Revolution Center at Valley Forge National Historic Park in Pennsylvania.

And it handled renovations to the library at Harvard Business School, where Mr. Bush got his MBA, and designed other campus buildings, from Stanford University in California to Columbia University in New York.

Despite the selection of an architect, the final call on building the library at SMU has not been made.

Although some faculty members have opposed having SMU host the president's memorial, school leaders have moved aggressively to get it, relying on deep political, financial and social connections to Mr. Bush.

Don Evans, a former commerce secretary who heads the library foundation, said it remains in "exclusive discussions" with SMU and that he hopes an announcement will be made this year.

Naming the architect now, he said, will allow for the design process to begin. "Robert A.M. Stern brings deep resources and broad experience to this important project," Mr. Evans said.

Brad Cheves, vice president for development and external affairs for SMU, said of Mr. Stern: "He's one of the nation's most distinguished architects. ... We'd be honored to work with him."

Mr. Stern and a spokesman for the library foundation said the selection was made largely on the firm's ability to handle and manage large, high-profile projects.

The architecture selection committee had many Dallas ties. Besides Mrs. Bush, members included the president's brother, Marvin Bush; developer Roland Betts, the president's fraternity brother at Yale and lead investor in the Texas Rangers when Mr. Bush was part-owner; and Deedie Rose, former president of the Dallas Museum of Art board of trustees. Her husband, Rusty Rose, an investor, co-owned the Rangers with Mr. Bush.

Neither Mr. Stern nor the firm's other seven partners have donated to Mr. Bush's presidential campaigns, according to federal records. Mr. Stern said he met with the president for the first time in Crawford.

"I guess he wanted to look me over and I suppose I was looking him over, so that was good," Mr. Stern said.

The initial solicitation letter, a copy of which The Dallas Morning News obtained earlier, called for proposals based on a location "adjacent to the SMU campus" – probably in its southeast quadrant. The panel's guidelines call for a pair of buildings – a 145,000-square-foot library and a 40,000-square-foot public policy institute.

Mr. Stern said housing the library and public policy institute separately makes sense because of security requirements.

"We're really all thinking about, including the president and Mrs. Bush, is sort of a campus, a mini campus, where different parts function on their own terms," he said. "The institute we'd like to have open ... so we don't want to send them [students and faculty] through an incredible, tortured, complicated circulation to a museum and library."


FROM NYC TO DALLAS

Profile of Robert A.M. Stern Architects, based in New York:

Founding partner: Robert A.M. Stern, dean of the Yale School of Architecture and author, including New Directions in American Architecture and Modern Classicism. He is a previous winner of the National Honor Awards of the American Institute of Architects.

Employees: The 38-year-old firm has 300 architects, landscape architects, interior designers and support staff.

Architectural philosophy: On its Web site, ramsa.com, the firm says the "public is entitled to buildings that do not, by their very being, threaten the aesthetic and cultural values of the buildings around them."

High-profile projects: American Revolution Center at Valley Forge, Pa.; Baker Library, Harvard Business School; Disney BoardWalk and Yacht and Beach Club resorts at Disney World; Gap Inc. offices, San Francisco; Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan; Mark Twain House, Hartford, Conn.; Robert C. Byrd U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building, Beckley, W.Va.

In Texas: Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, Houston; Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business Management, Rice University, Houston; Northrup Hall, Trinity University, San Antonio; The Residences at the Ritz-Carlton, Dallas

hamiltonpl

The Baker Library at Harvard is very well done. Hopefully we can get something like that. At least they chose a well-respected architect.

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DAGNABBIT!

sterling

It sounds as if they have found the answer to their "Vatican meets Montecello" type program. Robert Stern is absolutely the best person to do a range of architectural parodies that somehow have an air of legitimacy. Isn't the Ritz his design?

Geaux Tigers

^Yep.

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By the power of greyskull!

smudoode

Groundbreaking launches building program
at SMU's Perkins School of Theology


DALLAS (SMU) — Perkins School of Theology at SMU launched a major expansion of its facilities with a groundbreaking ceremony Friday, Sept. 7. The building program includes extensive renovation of two classroom and office buildings, Kirby and Selecman halls, built in 1948 and 1952 respectively, and construction of a new building. The new 20,000-square-foot facility will be named in honor of donor Elizabeth Perkins Prothro of Wichita Falls, Texas.


Ground was broken Sept. 7, 2007, on improvements to the Perkins School of Theology quadrangle. See a video and a slide show of the event.
The new Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Hall will be constructed at the southern end of the Theology School quadrangle, just north of Highland Park United Methodist Church. It will house facilities for teaching, administration and community uses, including seminar rooms and classrooms, conference rooms, a preaching lab and a computer lab. The building will double the current community dining and meeting space and provide facilities for public programs that are an integral component of campus and community life. The renovation of Kirby and Selecman halls will provide additional classroom space, accommodate new technologies and update faculty and staff offices. The redesigned building complex will include two cloistered spaces for outdoor activities.

"Perkins School of Theology has been central to SMU's academic mission from the University's beginning, and its outstanding facilities in Perkins Chapel and Bridwell Library serve both the campus and the community," said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. "We are grateful to the Perkins-Prothro family and other donors for enabling us to enhance and expand the Perkins facilities as we approach our centennial."

A gift of $6 million from the Perkins-Prothro family is the lead gift for the project and provides nearly half of the funds being sought in the building program. It is a joint gift from the Perkins-Prothro Foundation and Elizabeth Perkins Prothro, a member of SMU's class of 1939. In addition to the Perkins-Prothro gift, the Texas Methodist Foundation, through the generosity of anonymous donors, has committed a total of $1.4 million for the new building program. Including these commitments, to date, nearly 300 donors have contributed more than $10.8 million toward the $13 million project goal.


Artist's rendering of the expanded Perkins School of Theology Quadrangle, including the new Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Hall (far left). Click image for high resolution version.
As SMU approaches the centennial of its founding, in 2011, and its opening, in 2015, it is increasing resources for students, faculty, academic programs and the overall campus experience. These gifts will support that effort.

"The enhanced facilities provided by this building program will help solidify Perkins' position at the forefront of Christian theological education in the United States," said William B. Lawrence, dean of Perkins School of Theology. "The generous gifts to the program support Perkins' commitment to combine higher learning with real experience in preparing women and men for vital global ministry in the 21st century."

SMU's partnership with the Perkins-Prothro family dates from 1913, when Joe and Lois Perkins, the parents of Elizabeth Perkins Prothro, made their first gift to SMU, two years before the University opened. In the mid-1940s, they provided funds for seven buildings and an endowment for SMU's Theology School, which was named in their honor in 1945. Including the new $6 million gift, the Perkins and Prothro families and their foundations have given more than $36.3 million to SMU, most of which has been designated for Perkins School of Theology, including Bridwell Library.

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A private university located in the heart of Dallas, SMU is building on the vision of its founders, who imagined a distinguished center for learning emerging from the spirit of the city. Today, 11,000 students benefit from the national opportunities and international reach afforded by the quality of SMU’s seven degree-granting schools.

Perkins School of Theology is one of five university-related official schools of theology of The United Methodist Church. The school was founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church South, now The United Methodist Church, and was one of SMU's three original schools that opened in 1915. Degree programs include the Master of Church Ministries, Master of Divinity, Master of Sacred Music, Master of Theological Studies and Doctor of Ministry degrees, as well as the Ph.D. in cooperation with SMU's Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences.


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Lionel Hutz

Just saw an interesting little blurb in Esquire about "The Weave Bridge" that is about to be unveiled at Penn. It's a funky pedestrian bridge that will allow people to cross over railroad tracks to get to the university. Would love to see something like that in Dallas so people can get from Mockingbird Station to SMU and the Bush Library.

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"You look at Chicago, New York, San Francisco, you'll find lots of small businesses. But here in Dallas, they hold up big businesses and kick out small businesses, and that's not good."