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Lincoln Library Gets Ceremonial StartIllinois and Springfield city officials broke ground February 12 in the state capital for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, on the 192nd anniversary of the 16th president’s birth. Bids will open in March for a May target date to begin the library phase of the $115-million, 198,000-square-foot project. Completion of the stone and glass buildings, expected in 2003, will bring 46,000 items, valued at $125 million, under one roof, according to the February 13 Chicago Tribune. Governor George Ryan was on hand for the ceremony with his wife Lura Lynn Ryan, who directs the library’s private fundraising efforts. But the absence of Illinois Republican Senator Peter Fitzgerald was not surprising. Fitzgerald had criticized the biding process in September and unsuccessfully attempted to block federal funding, saying that Ryan would award library construction to his political contacts, a charge Ryan denies. Criticism of the Lincoln project also has come from the Library of Congress, where Lincoln curator John Sellers questioned its true research value to scholars, the Associated Press reported February 12. Sellers said most of the documents in the Illinois collection are from Lincoln’s life before his presidency, which limits their importance to researchers. He added that the library’s “out of the way” Springfield location means it will draw more tourists than scholars. Posted February 19, 2001. |
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