Methodist council approves land lease for Bush library
Mark Norris, Editor In Chief, mnorris@smu.edu
Issue date: 3/20/07 Section: News
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While students hit the slopes or laid out on the beach during Spring Break, SMU moved one step closer to finalizing a deal for the George W. Bush Library complex.
The Mission Council of the United Methodist Church's South Central Jurisdiction approved the lease of land on campus in a 10-4 vote. There was one abstention.
The vote was held at the conclusion of a special meeting of the council last Wednesday at a hotel near Dallas Love Field.
"There are still other things that have to be worked out, but this is a major step," SMU President R. Gerald Turner said after the meeting.
The council had to approve leasing land in use by SMU. The boundaries of the complex included campus residence halls and parking surfaces.
SMU confirmed publicly for the first time what many had already assumed the site of the complex would be: Mockingbird Lane to the south, Airline Road and Dublin Street to the west, SMU Boulevard to the north and Central Expressway to the east.
The majority of the site includes the disputed University Gardens complex, the Park Cities Plaza and Potomac Park. University Park voters must approve the sale of the strip of land in a municipal election this May.
The council heard from supporters and opponents of the lease before voting.
Turner spoke before the council, detailing the likely location.
He also answered questions from council members, with one asking him if he believed the conservative, privately owned institute would hurt SMU's reputation - Turner responded with a no.
Another asked if Turner had attempted to disassociate the institute from the school, and if the institute had to be part of the library deal.
"It's a package deal," Turner said. "It's enormously valuable."
Theology dean Bill Lawrence spoke before the council and asked them to support SMU's effort to land the library complex.
"This is an opportunity for a historic treasure at our university to be the repository for materials for scholarly research," Lawrence said.
The Mission Council of the United Methodist Church's South Central Jurisdiction approved the lease of land on campus in a 10-4 vote. There was one abstention.
The vote was held at the conclusion of a special meeting of the council last Wednesday at a hotel near Dallas Love Field.
"There are still other things that have to be worked out, but this is a major step," SMU President R. Gerald Turner said after the meeting.
The council had to approve leasing land in use by SMU. The boundaries of the complex included campus residence halls and parking surfaces.
SMU confirmed publicly for the first time what many had already assumed the site of the complex would be: Mockingbird Lane to the south, Airline Road and Dublin Street to the west, SMU Boulevard to the north and Central Expressway to the east.
The majority of the site includes the disputed University Gardens complex, the Park Cities Plaza and Potomac Park. University Park voters must approve the sale of the strip of land in a municipal election this May.
The council heard from supporters and opponents of the lease before voting.
Turner spoke before the council, detailing the likely location.
He also answered questions from council members, with one asking him if he believed the conservative, privately owned institute would hurt SMU's reputation - Turner responded with a no.
Another asked if Turner had attempted to disassociate the institute from the school, and if the institute had to be part of the library deal.
"It's a package deal," Turner said. "It's enormously valuable."
Theology dean Bill Lawrence spoke before the council and asked them to support SMU's effort to land the library complex.
"This is an opportunity for a historic treasure at our university to be the repository for materials for scholarly research," Lawrence said.
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