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SMU expected to settle with condo owner Thursday
6:50 AM Thu, Jan 07, 2010 | Permalink
Lori Stahl/Reporter Bio | E-mail | News tips

A judge is expected to sign off on a deal Thursday that will give SMU clear ownership of land it has already put into design plans for the Bush presidential library.

The expected settlement, which has been months in the making, almost certainly will involve a financial payment to Gary Vodicka, a former condominium owner who has long claimed that SMU fraudulently obtained the land.

The legal dispute, which centers on Southern Methodist University's purchase of University Gardens Condominiums, became an increasingly sore point after former President George W. Bush moved back to Dallas last year.

At one point, a state district judge ruled that Bush would have to give a sworn deposition in the civil case. That would have been both a legal precedent and a potential embarrassment for SMU, which long insisted that it didn't need the land for the library.

Detailed design plans unveiled in November show the site of the former condos, which has now been razed, as part of the Bush library's landscaped grounds.


Comments
Posted by d1120 @ 9:20 AM Thu, Jan 07, 2010

Was it really worth it Gary?
report as objectionable
Posted by Jerry @ 9:35 AM Thu, Jan 07, 2010

Don't do it Gary!!! You were the one person who stood up to Bush Co. Now I have to watch a million more people show up in my neighborhood. I would like to tell the following people you know what off;

The late Trammel Crow-the leader of the operation

Roger Staubach-Mrs. Braid's land grab

It's official:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... ff9eb.html

A condo owner who waged a legal battle against Southern Methodist University - and at one point persuaded a judge to bring former President George W. Bush into the case - settled Thursday for an undisclosed sum.

University Park homeowners fight plans for Bush library parking lots

10:02 AM CST on Tuesday, January 12, 2010

By LORI STAHL / The Dallas Morning News
[email protected]

Less than a week after settling a lawsuit over land for the George W. Bush Presidential Library, SMU faces another showdown with its neighbors. This time, the tussle will be at University Park City Hall.

Today, the Planning and Zoning Commission will consider Southern Methodist University's request to rezone several pieces of property at the site of the future library.
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SMU owns the land so the request could have been routinely approved. But some homeowners object to plans to put two library parking lots across an alley from their homes.

Last month, the planning commission asked Bush officials to see whether they could move the parking elsewhere. The Bush Foundation was asked to present alternatives at today's meeting.

But Bush and SMU officials say they still think the original design is best - and the one with the smallest impact on the residential area just north of SMU Boulevard.

Homeowners do not agree: "They're making up reasons instead of trying to find the best answer," said resident Tom Bowen.

He and others ask why library visitors can't park in existing SMU lots that are designated for overflow traffic. "That would be more secure and protected," Bowen said.

SMU President R. Gerald Turner designated parking garages at Binkley Avenue and Airline Road and SMU Boulevard and Airline Road as overflow lots. But library officials say they need a design that puts regular parking close to the building.

University and library officials say homeowners need to come to grips with the fact that the land in question will be developed, one way or another.

For starters, SMU has been working on a master plan for the eastern edge of campus. In addition to the Bush library, SMU officials plan to add 1,200 beds of student housing, as well as athletic fields.

Officials with the landlocked university say they tentatively plan to put the student housing south of the Bush library, near Mockingbird Lane. Students would have ready access to retail areas, and they would not be adjacent to a residential area.

New athletic fields - with accompanying lighting - would be between Central Expressway and the rest of campus.

But those plans make sense only if library parking is north of the Bush Library, said Brad Cheves, SMU's vice president for development and external affairs. If the library parking lots are moved, then something else will probably be put north of SMU Boulevard, he said.

Homeowners fear that the projected 250,000 annual visitors to the presidential library will trample their neighborhood.

Bush officials note that many of those visitors will come on school buses, which will consolidate the number of vehicles making trips to the library. The building will be closed at the end of the workday, unless a special event is scheduled.

And the parking lots will feature "landscaping on steroids," says Bush Foundation lawyer James B. Harris.

To make the parking lots as unobtrusive as possible, library designers propose lowering the surface grade, installing berms or small hills, providing generous landscaping and lighting that does not bleed into the residential area.

Groundbreaking is slated for this fall.

Last week, SMU paid an undisclosed sum to former condo owner Gary Vodicka to settle a 4-year-old lawsuit on the ownership of the former University Gardens complex. In exchange, SMU got clear title to the land, which is designated for the library's landscaped grounds.

Bush think tank at SMU plans weekly TV show 12:38 PM CT

12:40 PM CST on Tuesday, January 12, 2010

By LORI STAHL / The Dallas Morning News
[email protected]

Former President George W. Bush’s policy institute will co-produce a weekly TV show that will air on public television and some cable stations starting in February, officials said today.

The show, called "Ideas in Action,’’ will be hosted by the head of Bush’s think tank, James Glassman.

The half-hour show will focus on different policy issues ranging from global health, domestic energy policy to the future of journalism.

"We are interested in the nexus of theory and policy - or to put it another way, what happens when ideas are put into action?’’ said Andrew Walworth, president of the television and distribution company, Grace Creek Media.

The episodes will be taped in Dallas at Southern Methodist University, where the Bush institute will be housed, and in Washington, D.C. in the studio facilities of the Newseum. Several episodes have already been taped.

smupony94 wrote:Bush think tank at SMU plans weekly TV show 12:38 PM CT

I heard the 1st show topic will be North Korea and feature Sarah Palin.

I hope they have a Kramer-type charecter

SoCal_Pony wrote:

smupony94 wrote:Bush think tank at SMU plans weekly TV show 12:38 PM CT

I heard the 1st show topic will be North Korea and feature Sarah Palin.

Surely she can't see N. Korea from her backyard too.