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Bush Presidential Center "Topping Out"

By BJ Austin

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-988656.mp3

Dallas, TX – The George W. Bush Presidential Center on the SMU campus has reached a milestone. The former president and first lady were on hand for the "topping out" -- placement of the final beam at the top of the building Monday. KERA's BJ Austin reports.

The steel beam, an American flag on one end, a Texas flag on the other, was hoisted by a crane to the top of what will be the Freedom Tower.

Leading a tour of the concrete and steel "shell" of the Presidential Center, architect Robert Stern says Freedom Tower will rise 60 feet above campus. Its light will be seen for miles. Stern says a unique replica of the oval office will also be a major attraction.

Stern: There are oval offices in many presidential libraries, but ours will not only be perfectly exact as in the time of President Bush's occupation of the White House, but have windows on the outside just as the real one does, and that is totally different, an open just as the real one does to a rose garden.

Alan Lowe, director of the Bush Library and Museum says there are other unique features that stand out from previous presidential libraries.

Lowe: What's innovative is that it's not strictly chronological. It's been organized around certain themes and principals that were important to the President and Mrs. Bush: freedom, responsibility, opportunity and compassion. Lowe says the library's archives will include 42 thousand artifacts, and more than 200 million emails that will be available to the public.

9-11 will feature prominently, and Robert Stern says a twisted, steel girder from the World Trade Center will be on display.

Stern: This steel, I just learned recently, is not melted from the fire. It was where the plane actually crashed into the building.

Former President George W. Bush says he's especially exited about the Bush Institute - a policy think tank that's part of the Presidential Center. Its conservative agenda has been criticized by some faculty members.

Bush: It's a place of learning, a place of scholarship, but mostly of action - a results oriented institute that will have an effect on our country, and we think on the world.

SMU President R. Gerald Turner says the Presidential Center is already having an effect on campus. Turner: Whenever he is on the campus, or Mrs. Bush is on the campus, our students certainly start tweeting. It creates a real buzz. It's a wonderful addition to our campus already.

The George W. Bush Presidential Center opens in the spring of 2013.