The Clinton Foundation announced plans to expand and renovate parts of the Clinton Presidential Center, including the creation of a Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton Gallery.
Clinton Foundation Executive Director Stephanie Streett and architect Juliane Wolf, design principal and partner for Studio Gang, revealed the plans during a Tuesday meeting of the Rotary Club of Little Rock.
The center — which includes the Clinton Presidential Library, Clinton School of Public Service and about 30 acres of landscaped green space — will also get a new welcome plaza connecting the museum to the Choctaw Station building, community gathering spaces, trails and the planned 30 Crossing Park in the River Market area.
Other plans include expanding the library’s special exhibition gallery, to be housed in the Choctaw building along with a cafe, and modernizing the Clinton Administration Gallery in the museum. The Choctaw building previously housed the Clinton School, which relocated down the road to 1 World Ave. and shares the building with Heifer International.
Wolf said the plans are geared at welcoming visitors to the Clinton campus and strengthening the connections to the surrounding area and the Arkansas River.
“Exterior connection was a critical part of our thinking, and it’s a matter of not just the connection to 30 Crossing Park, though that is critical,” Wolf said. “But there is so much work happening all around and to the south, so further connecting to the Third Street corridor, which is more and more energized.”
Studio Gang is an internationally acclaimed architecture firm. In addition to contributions to the skyline of Chicago, where some of their offices are located, Studio Gang designed the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts building and was part of the team that designed the planned 30 Crossing Park, which will neighbor and connect to the Clinton Center.
Earlier this year, the city of Little Rock announced a $30 million donation from the Bezos Earth Fund, one of billionaire Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ philanthropy organizations, for the construction of 30 Crossing Park.