Three years of construction is now over at the LBJ Library and Museum.
Much of what was done honors not just the legacy of President Johnson, but also his wife, Lady Bird Johnson.
The museum auditorium has been renovated and re-named the Lady Bird Johnson Auditorium. Fountains on the plaza outside the library have been replaced with arboretums of native plants and wildflowers, both passions of Mrs. Johnson.
"It's a beautiful compliment for which we are grateful and which we celebrate," said Luci Baines Johnson, the younger daughter of Lady Bird and Lyndon Johnson.
She joined her sister, Lynda Johnson Robb, and other dignitaries including UT President William Powers and U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, in celebrating the completion of the construction in a dedication ceremony at the library Friday morning.
"When you see those wildflowers, you think those are struggling like we are,'' Robb said. "They're native, they're working hard, they're doing their best to make this a better place and more beautiful."
The native plants were specially chosen by the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
"This building is a formidable structure and in so many ways, represents the formidable legacy of its namesake, Lyndon Baines Johnson," says library director Mark Updegrove. "So it's very proper, I think, that we have the gardens now in place that represent Mrs. Johnson who so enhanced her husband's legacy with her wise counsel and her steady presence in his life."
As part of the $34 million price tag, each piece of travertine marble on the exterior of the building was cleaned and re-grouted, which should clear up persistent leaks that have plagued the museum for years. Leaks from the plaza were also repaired.
"The first task of any library is the preservation of the material," UT President Powers says. "We were to the stage, not the stage where materials were in danger, but we were about to get to the point where we would not be comfortable with their security and their preservation."
In addition, the museum built new classroom space for students to use as they learn about Johnson's administration.
