Driving down Dublin Street near SMU’s campus, it may be hard to picture the large amount of land covered in dirt and tree stumps as the future site of the George W. Bush Presidential Center.

Looking at the site, where there once stood student apartment buildings and tennis courts, sits a large tent in preparation for Tuesday’s construction groundbreaking.

“The Center will be housed in an elegant building designed by a first class architect, Robert A.M. Stern. It will be landscaped by an innovative genius, Michael Van Valkenburgh. Inside, visitors will find three components: an archive, a museum and a policy institute,” said former President George W. Bush in his “A Vision to the Future” speech.  

Although it may not look like much now, the Presidential Center site  is comprised of to 23.11 acres and landscaped areas. The building will be three stories tall with a total floor area of 226,560 gross square feet. There will be up to 221 spaces for public parking, seven spaces for buses and up to 85 spaces for fellows, senior staff, and National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

“The building and landscape evoke elements of the full span of George and Laura Bush’s life and service, from their ranch in Crawford to the White House, and help us share the story of a couple committed to public service based on the core principles of freedom, opportunity, responsibility and compassion,” said Mark Langdale, president of the George W. Bush Foundation, according to the Bush Presidential Center website.

The Presidential Museum will include sections of case studies of decisions made in the White House, “Life in the White House,” which will include an exact replica of the oval office and “Leading to the Future,” an exhibit of the continuing work of the George W. Bush Institute.

The Archives will consist of the library, “The Freedom Collection,” which will be a central repository of papers and oral histories of political dissidents and “Future Work of the Institute.” The Institute will include the Women’s Initiative, chaired by Laura Bush, which will concentrate on social and economic opportunities for women and children and will focus on four areas of research: education, global health, human freedom and economic growth.

The landscape surrounding the Center will be its own attraction. Its main function will be an urban park that will allow an environment for events and gatherings, and even sports in some areas.

The Center’s surrounding land will feature a wildflower meadow, gardens and courtyards, a tall grass prairie with seasonal wildflowers and savannah and woodland clearings for native habitats for butterflies and birds. The prairie and savannah will be 6.2 acres in size, the wildflower meadow will be .4 acres and native turf areas will be 8.4 acres, with an irrigation cistern that will provide 50 percent of the irrigation demand for the site.

According the Bush Presidential Center website, President Bush said, “I am thrilled that this center is going to be at Southern Methodist University.”

Tuesday marks the groundbreaking for the Center, which is expected to open in February  2013.