Clinton library opens on schedule in November

The 148,000-sq.-ft., $110 million William J. Clinton Presidential Center & Park opened in mid November in downtown Little Rock, Ark. More than 27,000 guests and dignitaries, including President Clinton, attended the opening ceremonies.

The center, built by CDI Construction of Little Rock, is located within a 30-acre city park along the south bank of the Arkansas River in Little Rock and will serve as the base of operations for President Clinton's national and international public service initiatives.

The Presidential Center site includes the Presidential Library and Museum; the Rock Island Railroad Bridge, to be renovated to become a pedestrian bridge crossing the Arkansas River; and the circa-1899 Choctaw Station, to house the Clinton School of Public Service and Clinton Foundation offices.

The Presidential Library and Museum is designed by the Polshek Partnership, the award winning architectural firm whose work includes the Rose Center for Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

Exhibits in the 20,000-sq.-ft. museum are designed by Ralph Appelbaum and Associates of New York. Among its numerous notable achievements, Appelbaum and Associates created the exhibits at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.

The building also features an 80-seat theater, banquet hall, café, meeting and seminar rooms, research offices and support space for archivists and scholars. The secure collection of the Clinton Presidential archives, administered by the National Archives and Record Administration (NARA), is located at and below grade in the archive building.

Its north side is defined as a two-story pavilion containing research offices and support spaces for archivists and scholars.