Southern Methodist U. Settles Lawsuit Over Bush Library Site
The long and bitter lawsuit over ownership of land near the site of the future George W. Bush presidential library came to an abrupt end Friday when SMU settled the case with two former condominium owners.
The surprise settlements remove one of the potential obstacles to construction of the $300 million library. In recent years, Southern Methodist University tamped down resistance from a small contingent of faculty members and from some Methodist churchgoers who said SMU should not house a policy institute at the library complex.
But the lawsuit, which was filed in 2005, continued to gain steam, despite SMU's growing bench of outside lawyers. The stakes rose when a judge ruled that Bush himself would have to give a deposition, which would have made him the first former president to be dragged into a state civil case.
During the four-year legal struggle, both sides hurled harsh accusations. SMU portrayed the condo owners as shakedown artists out to make money off a legitimate business deal, and the owners claimed that SMU duped unwitting residents into selling their property without divulging plans for the library.
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The surprise settlements remove one of the potential obstacles to construction of the $300 million library. In recent years, Southern Methodist University tamped down resistance from a small contingent of faculty members and from some Methodist churchgoers who said SMU should not house a policy institute at the library complex.
But the lawsuit, which was filed in 2005, continued to gain steam, despite SMU's growing bench of outside lawyers. The stakes rose when a judge ruled that Bush himself would have to give a deposition, which would have made him the first former president to be dragged into a state civil case.
During the four-year legal struggle, both sides hurled harsh accusations. SMU portrayed the condo owners as shakedown artists out to make money off a legitimate business deal, and the owners claimed that SMU duped unwitting residents into selling their property without divulging plans for the library.