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Weekly UpdatesGeorge W. Bush's presidential library will comprise a space as big as an average Wal-Mart Super Center, or an estimated 207,000 square feet, according to The Dallas Morning News.
The library, which was to fill two separate buildings at Southern Methodist University, is now planned to fill a single, multi-story complex with a policy institute two-thirds bigger than first proposed. The overall size of the library means it will be bigger than Bush's father's library, the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum at Texas A&M University.
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Initial plans called for a 40,000-square-foot policy center and a separate 145,000-square-foot building for the library, museum, and storage of Bush documents and artifacts. The National Archives will operate those areas, and the Bush Foundation will run and be housed in the policy center, the Morning News reported.
Other revisions are likely before the expected groundbreaking next year, said Mark Langdale, president of the nonprofit George W. Bush Foundation, which hopes to raise $300 million to construct and endow the library. The National Archives is responsible for ensuring that the final designs meet federal guidelines.
According to current plans, the policy center will include a 400-seat auditorium. Bush has discussed bringing world leaders to speak at his center, as well as trying to host a presidential debate. The separately run library and policy institute will be divided by a wall but will share a lobby in much the same way that Jimmy Carter's Atlanta library and center are connected by a passageway.
Ronald Reagan's library in California is currently the largest presidential complex of the 13 in the federal system. According to the Morning News, its archives, museum, foundation, and the Air Force One Pavilion added in 2005 total more than 265,000 square feet. But it was built before Congress offered big financial incentives to keep presidential archives within certain size limits.
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