George W. Bush Presidential Center

The George W. Bush Presidential Center is a future complex that will include former President George W. Bush's presidential library and museum, the George W. Bush Policy Institute, and the offices of the George W. Bush Foundation. The facility will occupy roughly on the campus of Southern Methodist University (SMU) in University Park, Texas. Groundbreaking took place on November 16, 2010. The completion and dedication of the facility is planned for July 6, 2013, while opening is planned for September 11, 2013. At a planned , on completion it will become the second-largest presidential library, behind only the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.

Site selection process

Early bidders

Before George W. Bush even became President, officials at Baylor University in Waco, Texas started to work on a bid for the library. They believed that their proximity to the President's ranch in Crawford and their location within of Austin, Dallas and the Bryan-College Station metropolitan area gave them a good shot at winning such a project. Not long after Bush became President, officials at Southern Methodist University began working on their bid for the library.

The White House refused to discuss the issue until after the President had won a second term. In the...
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