how much does it cost to build a library?!

darkcrow

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/475052p-399492c.html

W library in record book

$500M center would be priciest for a Prez



BY THOMAS M. DeFRANK
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF

WASHINGTON - He may be a certified lame duck now, but President Bush and his truest believers are about to launch their final campaign - an eye-popping, half-billion-dollar drive for the Bush presidential library.
Eager to begin refurbishing his tattered legacy, the President hopes to raise $500 million to build his library and a think tank at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Bush lived in Dallas until he was elected governor of Texas in 1995.

Bush sources with direct knowledge of library plans told the Daily News that SMU and Bush fund-raisers hope to get half of the half billion from what they call "megadonations" of $10 million to $20 million a pop.

Bush loyalists have already identified wealthy heiresses, Arab nations and captains of industry as potential "mega" donors and are pressing for a formal site announcement - now expected early in the new year.

"You can't ask people in Dallas for $20 million until they can be sure the library won't be in Waco," one Bush source noted.

The rest of the cash will come from donors willing to pony up $25,000 to $5 million.

"It's a stretch," said another source briefed on the plans. "It's so much bigger than anything that's been tried before. But the more you have, the more influence [on history] you can exert."

The half-billion target is double what Bush raised for his 2004 reelection and dwarfs the funding of other presidential libraries. But Bush partisans are determined to have a massive pile of endowment cash to spread the gospel of a presidency that for now gets poor marks from many scholars and a majority of Americans.

The legacy-polishing centerpiece is an institute, which several Bush insiders called the Institute for Democracy. Patterned after Stanford University's Hoover Institution, Bush's institute will hire conservative scholars and "give them money to write papers and books favorable to the President's policies," one Bush insider said.

Presidential libraries are run by the National Archives and Records Administration, but building costs must come from private donations. Bells and whistles, like an institute or an academic program like Bush's father's public service school at Texas A&M, are also extras.

The News reported in March 2005 that the library will be at SMU, where First Lady Laura Bush is an alumna and sits on the board of trustees. But a formal announcement has been delayed by a legal dispute over some of the land where the library complex will be built.

It remains to be seen whether Bush's low standing in the polls and his rejection by voters in the midterm elections will make it harder to raise funds. That was true for former President Jimmy Carter, who struggled to fund his library center after being defeated by Ronald Reagan in 1980.

But planners believe hometown and Texas pride will outweigh any drag from Bush's diminished political fortunes. "The money will be there," a senior Bush adviser said. "The President is very popular in Dallas and the library will be great for the city and SMU."

There's another major inducement for potential donors: Their names aren't required to be made public.

Uncle Leo

It's very expensive to get authentic first-editions of certain comic books.

darkcrow

Uncle Leo wrote:

It's very expensive to get authentic first-editions of certain comic books.

the beno all the way!

farfromglorified

Uncle Leo wrote:

It's very expensive to get authentic first-editions of certain comic books.

robbie

how many copies of "my pet goat" does half a billion dollars buy?

exhausted

that'll be one purdy liberry.

civ_eng_girl

things you can build for less than $500M:

-seven 40-storey condominium towers
-two NHL hockey arenas
-an airport terminal
-one and a half 650,000 s.f. hospital redevelopments
-two 60-storey office towers
-an entire hotel/casino resort

just to put it in perpective....

robbie

i might visit this library to mock his dead body and dance in celebration around his corpse when they lay him out on a slab for the public to view. i have no inclination to travel to texas, but to gleefully dance around the cadaver of this monster may be inspiration enough. in fact, i bet there will be quite a crowd of VERY disrespectful people in line to smile at the corpse of this rotting turd. the reagan viewing was a very respectful ceremony, there is no way the passing of the man who strives to lead us into unnecessary wars and strip us of our liberties will be met with the same regard. i did not like ronald reagan, but i would not disrespect his family enough to openly mock him at a wake, without a doubt i would pay every disrespect to this jerkoff without regard... and i KNOW im not the only one.... too bad this wont happen for another 20 years or so......

jlew24asu

robbie wrote:

i might visit this library to mock his dead body and dance in celebration around his corpse when they lay him out on a slab for the public to view. i have no inclination to travel to texas, but to gleefully dance around the cadaver of this monster may be inspiration enough. in fact, i bet there will be quite a crowd of VERY disrespectful people in line to smile at the corpse of this rotting turd. the reagan viewing was a very respectful ceremony, there is no way the passing of the man who strives to lead us into unnecessary wars and strip us of our liberties will be met with the same regard. i did not like ronald reagan, but i would not disrespect his family enough to openly mock him at a wake, without a doubt i would pay every disrespect to this jerkoff without regard... and i KNOW im not the only one.... too bad this wont happen for another 20 years or so......

o robbie robbie. I feel sorry for the people that know you. and for being you.

robbie

jlew24asu wrote:

o robbie robbie. I feel sorry for the people that know you. and for being you.

do you really think i will be the only one openly celebrating when george w. bush finally dies? look, i dont want anyone to kill him, but when he finally dies i will be among the MANY to party that night. i most likely wont happen for another 29 years or so, but a happy motherfucking day it will be. you really think nobody else feels this way? and although i will not make it to texas in all likelihood, if his body was on display anywhere near me i would definitely attend and be extremely rude and disrespectful, pointing and laughing, dancing, flipping the bird, the whole 9 yards...... low class...yes.....tactless...yes.......what a perfect tribute to the death of a monster.

hippiemom

robbie wrote:

do you really think i will be the only one openly celebrating when george w. bush finally dies? look, i dont want anyone to kill him, but when he finally dies i will be among the MANY to party that night. i most likely wont happen for another 29 years or so, but a happy motherfucking day it will be. you really think nobody else feels this way? and although i will not make it to texas in all likelihood, if his body was on display anywhere near me i would definitely attend and be extremely rude and disrespectful, pointing and laughing, dancing, flipping the bird, the whole 9 yards...... low class...yes.....tactless...yes.......what a perfect tribute to the death of a monster.

And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand o'er your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead

jlew24asu

robbie wrote:

...... low class...yes.....tactless...yes........

I rest my case.

robbie

jlew24asu wrote:

I rest my case.

and i rest mine.... how else should the wake of george w. bush go down other than low class, tactless, rude, obnoxious, and with total disregard for human life. it would be a tribute really.

Scratchin a Letter

robbie wrote:

and i rest mine.... how else should the wake of george w. bush go down other than low class, tactless, rude, obnoxious, and with total disregard for human life. it would be a tribute really.

Nicely put.

Unfortunately the piece of shit will probably still be alive for a long time though. Sod's law. A fatal accident would be alright though, preferably sometime in 2009 without the looming threat of rising Dick..

jlew24asu

very classy folks around here. or trashy. they rhyme, easy mistake sorry.

hrd2imgn

My Pearl Jam music Library cost about 3k including vinyl and imports

Vedderlution_Baby

Good lord. These books gonna read themselves to you?