Texas universities lobby to be site of Bush library

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A high-powered search committee, which includes a former commerce secretary and a president's brother, is busy scanning the Texas heartland for the best spot to locate President Bush's library, even though he won't be out of office for another 42 months.

The formal bidding has not yet opened, but several Texas universities, along with the city of Arlington, Texas, already have prepared lengthy proposals to persuade the search committee.

"[Former Commerce Secretary] Don Evans is a key player in this, as is President Bush's brother Marvin," said Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck, who has written three letters to the president and senior adviser Karl Rove pushing his city as the best site.

Among the top contenders for the library -- expected to cost as much as $200 million -- are:

• Southern Methodist University, considered by some as the front-runner because first lady Laura Bush attended the Dallas college and Vice President Dick Cheney sits on the school's board.

• Texas A&M University in College Station, site of Mr. Bush's father's library, which is centrally located for the state's urban areas.

• Baylor University in Waco, the world's largest Baptist university and not far from Mr. Bush's ranch in Crawford, which has put together 100 acres on the Brazos River for the library.

• The city of Arlington, where Mr. Bush lived when he was part-owner of the Texas Rangers baseball team and soon to be the home of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys.

While Mr. Bush will be president for another 42 months, the candidates say the decision on the site could be made this year.

"The rumor is, late summer, early fall, but that's a rumor, and we haven't been told that by the White House," said Tom Barry, an SMU official heading up the library campaign for the university.