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Welcome to FranaWiki, Home of the Clinton Presidential Center & Little Rock Memory Project, documenting various aspects of the Clinton Library & downtown Little Rock history. 3,332 articles created by contributors

Clinton Presidential Center Clinton Foundation Clinton School of Public Service Arkansas Travelers Little Rock River Market Heifer International City of Little Rock Central Arkansas Transit Authority Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Choctaw Railway Station Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau Arkansas Museum of Discovery Library opening

Exterior of Clinton Library. Photo by James Hyde.

On November 18th, 2004, the Clinton Presidential Center opened to one of the most incredible parties Arkansas has ever seen. There were 40,000 invited guests, a performance by Bono and The Edge, and the state’s largest fireworks show ever. Celebrities and dignitaries came for the Library opening, and all living United States presidents, but one, were in attendance.

How exactly did this library come to Little Rock? Who contributed to the effort, and what challenges did they face? How was the site selected? Who were the architects? What was the experience of the staff of the Clinton Foundation? What difference has the Library made for musicians and artists? How has it transformed Downtown Little Rock and the economy of Central Arkansas generally? In 2006, students in the Honors College at the University of Central Arkansas began the Clinton Presidential Center & Downtown Little Rock Memory Project to find out. This wiki documents the people who made it happen, as well as important places, events, and mile-markers along the way.

Featured article Ceilings Plus created environmentally friendly metal and bamboo ceilings for the Clinton Library. The perforated and non-perforated aluminum ceiling panels are made primarily from recycled soda cans (~75 percent). The custom-made Arboreal® carbonized bamboo ceiling covers 9,000 square feet. Polshek Partnership selected bamboo for the ceilings as it is a "rapidly renewable" building material. The aluminum and bamboo ceilings helped the Library achieve LEED certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. Did you know? Roland Remmel is a popular Arkansas politico known for giving away walking-sticks called Rollie Sticks. Remmel once launched a one-man campaign to raise money for the reopening of Little Rock park lavatories.

In the news Bill Clinton’s presidential library raised more than 10 percent of its $165 million cost from foreign sources, with the most generous overseas donation coming from Saudi Arabia. The royal family of Saudi Arabia gave the Clinton facility in Little Rock, Ark., about $10 million, about the same amount it gave toward the presidential library of George H.W. Bush, according to people directly familiar with the contributions. Read more This month in history On January 20, 2001, the National Archives removed 177 computers used during the Clinton administration, copied their drives, and reformatted them for reuse by the Bush White House. NARA retained 40 million government-related email messages in its sweep of Clinton's offices and network servers. All physical documents and other memorabilia were stored temporarily at a defunct Oldsmobile dealership until the Clinton Library opened in 2004. The digital files will form the core of an online-accessible digital archive of Clinton-era primary material. The Clinton Electronic Records Project charged with creating the digital archive is directed by Sam Watkins. More from the timeline

Little Rock panorama, looking west from Clinton Presidential Center and Park. Photo by Nima Kasraie.

Other links of interest

• Clinton Presidential Center site
• Clinton Presidential Library & Museum site
• City of Little Rock site
• Little Rock River Market site
• Little Rock Downtown Partnership site

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FranaWiki and The Clinton Presidential Center & Downtown Little Rock Memory Project are products of the Honors College at the University of Central Arkansas. All rights reserved.