20 years after opening, Bill Clinton’s presidential library prepares for a ‘refresh’

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Twenty years after Bill Clinton opened his presidential library and museum to a rain-soaked crowd, the area around the glass and steel installation has been transformed.

The museum has fueled development around Little Rock’s once-sleepy downtown, with a former industrial area to the east blossoming into an entertainment district. Next to the building, cyclists and runners regularly cross what was once a railroad bridge spanning the Arkansas River.

But little has changed inside the museum, which features many of the same exhibits unveiled two decades ago: touch screens where visitors can view Clinton’s daily schedules, replicas of the Oval Office and the Hall of the Cabinet, electronic tickers scrolling with the 42nd president’s accomplishments.

That’s about to change, as library officials celebrate the 20th anniversary of its opening and plan a major update and expansion this will add Hilary Rodham Clinton’s personal archives.

“We need to refresh the current exhibits, the technology,” said Stephanie Streett, executive director of the Clinton Foundation. “The story is not going to change, the story of the Clinton administration and the work that he did.”

But library officials are looking at how to add context to major decisions made during the Clinton administration. The changes come as opinions have evolved among fellow Democrats on some of Clinton’s accomplishments, including her 1994 crime bill. Library officials say they plan to revisit some of those decisions and their impact Today.

“It remains an interesting time, and the Clinton administration obviously shaped the 1990s,” said Jay Barth, library director. “So I think that’s the story we’re telling, the interplay between that era of the 1990s and this administration.”

Library officials did not give a timeline or cost for the planned expansion. Streett said it will also include more community spaces for events, programs and student groups.

Clinton remains an active political figure and has become a political figure elder statesman figure within the Democratic Party, giving a prime-time speech and campaigning on behalf of Vice President Kamala Harris before the presidential election. Its library celebrated its 20th anniversary on Monday, the day before publishes a memoir on his years since leaving office in 2001.

The expansion will allow the library to tell more about Hillary Rodham Clinton. She has remained a prominent figure since her tenure as first lady, through her work in the Senate, as secretary of state, and her two unsuccessful presidential bids.

The expansion will include an institute that will serve as a hub for the former first lady’s advocacy and nonprofit work. Hillary Clinton’s papers from her time as first lady are already preserved in the archives of the presidential library.

“I think it’s a fascinating and distinctive story that really resonates with a different audience, a slightly younger audience, but really an audience of all ages because of the importance of his role in life American,” Barth said.

The library is the centerpiece of a 29-acre (nearly 12 hectares) park that was once a warehouse district. The campus includes the University of Arkansas’ Clinton School of Public Service.

More than 5 million people have visited the center since it opened in a ceremony that attracted dignitaries and celebrities. The library remains a major draw for the town, with tourist groups visiting it regularly and local groups holding events in the facility’s Great Hall.

Tourist attention is what library planners had hoped for when the site, located next to a highway in the city’s downtown, was chosen.

“We knew we would attract political attention because of the Clinton presidency,” said Skip Rutherford, the former Clinton Foundation director who oversaw the planning, construction and opening of the library. “We knew there would be political attention, both good and bad. What we were hoping for was to attract tourism attention.

The library is celebrating the anniversary of its opening with a series of events in early December, including a conversation with the former president about his new book. The library also sells souvenirs for the occasion. They include a Christmas ornament depicting the image of an umbrella – a reminder of the soggy opening ceremony – as well as mugs and postcards with images from that day.

A week after the election, visitors to the library included Mary Jordan of Phoenix, who stopped on her way home from North Carolina. Jordan said visiting the library made him appreciate Clinton’s presidency and his ideals even more.

“It certainly makes me appreciate America and what we stand for and our democracy, and I hope we never lose that,” she said.