The chairman of the William J. Clinton Foundation spoke before The Real Estate Council in Dallas Thursday about the impact a presidential library can have.
Skip Rutherford was the point person for the Clinton Presidential Center and is still involved in the operations of the facility through the Clinton Foundation.The speech came in the midst of the race for the George W. Bush Presidential Library, of which SMU, the University of Dallas and Baylor are finalists.
Speaking in front of a packed Renaissance Hotel ballroom, Rutherford opened by saying the two North Texas contenders were “very fine locations” for a potential library.
“I’m anxiously waiting for a decision too – it will be good for the other libraries in the region for Bush’s to be built in Texas,” Rutherford said.
He said there is no cookie-cutter model to make a library work, and that he enjoys all of the libraries in the system. Rutherford said each library takes a different approach, some sentimental, some rural, some urban. However, the most important thing for a library, according to Rutherford, is its location.
“No matter how much money, if people can’t get there and it’s not user friendly, then it’s not going to be a success,” Rutherford said.
Rutherford said that while politics is a partisan process, the creation of the library is non-partisan. He said all of the libraries helped out the Clinton library, and the same will happen when Bush begins work on his. Rutherford also listed some items that the winner of the Bush library should start working on.
“There are four factors that go into a library – archival, educational, tourism and economic development,” Rutherford said.
The National Archives operates up to 70,000 feet in each library, with that part operated and paid through federal appropriations. Any additional space is operated and paid with donations and income to the library.
Rutherford explained that one of the biggest challenges was thinking of ways to expand the base of the library. They decided to place the library on a major interstate in between Dallas and Memphis, and also within walking distance of hotels and restaurants so that the library could be part of a community.
“It would have been easier to stick this in the middle of a field from a legal perspective, but it was important for this to be something more,” Rutherford said.
The Clinton library has been a catalyst for over $1 billion in economic development in the Little Rock area. Rutherford said that guests often ask what else is there to do after visiting the library. That is why he stresses partnerships with cities and counties to help with the area around the library.
“The real test is what a library can do for the city and the area its in Ã- and what the city can do in return,” Rutherford said.
Representatives from the University of Dallas were well represented at the breakfast. The university had a sponsored table and sat front and center for the event. UD representatives enthusiastically chatted with Rutherford well after the event had ended. SMU had a lone representative, Jim Kramb, a director of marketing and conferences at the SMU Legacy campus.
Afterwards, in an interview with The Daily Campus, Rutherford said he had visited the SMU campus and was impressed with what he saw.
“SMU has the connections and the proposal to get the library,” he said. “But don’t underestimate the other schools.”
Rutherford also visited the site at the University of Dallas, and commented that the land there is an asset to their bid.
“The city of Dallas and SMU would be very lucky to have the library within its limits,” Rutherford said.
