En route to New Orleans via Little Rock, I stopped for a renewed look at the William J. Clinton Presidential Center & Park - opened in 2004 as a LEED Silver, then elevated to LEED Platinum status (for Existing Buildings) three years later. It's a spectacular setting, overlooking the Arkansas River and literally right off I-30 and the entrance to the city.
In "Bridge of Possibilities" for the Nov./Dec. issue of Eco-Structure Magazine, I wrote:
"Around Little Rock, Ark., they call it “Bill’s Bridge.” In a lush setting that was once a brownfield and reaches out towards the Arkansas River, the William J. Clinton Presidential Center & Park is reminiscent of Little Rock’s six bridges that cross the river nearby, its modern design emblematic of a 'bridge to the 21st century.'"
The LEED Platinum headquarters for Heifer International (left) sits to the southeast of the Clinton Center, while a wetlands restoration (right) in progress stretches towards the river as part of a 27-acre park space. To the Center's immediate south is the Clinton School of Public Service, housed in a reburbished 1899 train depot (below) for the old Choctaw Route. In all, a beautiful place, throughful, restoring the past, declaring a hopeful future.
