Grand Canyon ceremony honors contributions of McCain, Udall
The National Park Service and Grand Canyon Conservancy on Sunday honored Senator John McCain and Congressman Morris Udall for their longtime commitment and collaborations to help conserve and protect Grand Canyon National Park.
Family members, including Ambassador Cindy McCain and Senator Mark Udall, and friends attended the unveiling of an interpretive exhibit on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon celebrating the two special leaders’ contributions. Together, Senator McCain and Congressman “Mo” Udall, one of the great conservation leaders of our time, worked to preserve the natural beauty of Arizona for future generations.
Though Senator McCain and Congressman Udall resided on separate sides of the political aisle, they worked together on many issues and maintained a close friendship for over 20 years. Senator McCain often spoke of his enormous respect and gratitude for “Mo” who early on taught him a
valuable lesson when he reached across party lines to extend the hand of friendship to a freshman congressman from the other side of the aisle in McCain. The two would go on to work together on issues of importance to both the state and the nation.
“McCain Library Tip-Off” raises excitement, support for library effort
While teams participating in the NCAA Final Four practiced on the game court below, more than 50 leaders in business and government gathered Friday at State Farm Stadium with a different goal in mind.
They arrived at the invitation of Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill to learn more about, and to help support, the vision of creating the McCain Library and Museum.
Announced in September by President Biden and the McCain family, the upcoming project at Arizona State University will include a visitors’ center, an Arizona home for the Washington, DC-based McCain Institute, and an expansive McCain Library and Museum, where scholars, students, journalists and the community can study the Senator’s work and life. The library will welcome visitors from around the world to study McCain and topics including leadership, defense and national security, and human rights.
For Cindy and the McCain family, it’s very important that this library represent the beloved state that John McCain called home. It is essential that this iconic building be an anchor in the community and embodies the principles that guided Senator McCain throughout his life,” Bidwill told attendees at the McCain Library Tip-Off. “This is why I’m asking that you join me in supporting these efforts and contribute your time, talents, ideas and networks to ensure that we build a library that is woven into the fabric of Arizona for generations to come.”
Attendees included Jack and Andy McCain, former Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and Peoria Mayor Jason Beck.
Architectural firm eyed for new McCain Library as national project advances
The search is underway for a national architectural firm that will bring the vision for a McCain Library and Museum to life, another key step in the process from “idea” to “opening.”
Design is expected to begin in fall 2024, with construction planned to start in fall 2025. The project will create a multi-purpose facility that will honor the life and work of Senator John McCain while providing a convening space to discuss and learn about democracy, public service and freedom.
The project will sit on a 22-acre site owned by ASU, and has an estimated project budget of about $167 million.
President Joe Biden in September 2023 came to Tempe to announce a major federal grant to the state of Arizona to help design and build the McCain Library and Museum at Arizona State University. McCain represented Arizona first as a U.S. representative and then as a longtime U.S. senator and a Republican presidential nominee.
RFQ issued for design consultant for McCain Library and Museum project
In an important step in the evolution of the McCain Library and Museum, Arizona State University has issued a request for a statement of qualifications to provide professional museum program consultant services for the project.
The development will include a “living museum” with changing exhibits, symposia, and media that are responsive to current events. In addition to artifacts from Senator McCain’s life, the facility may also feature Rio Reimagined – a program focused on connecting communities, restoration and revitalization, and economic development along the Rio Salado (Salt River).
The consultant will be expected to help determine the proper scale and scope of the facilities to accommodate exhibitions, operations, technology, visitor amenities and all other requirements. They will work closely with the McCain family, selected stakeholders and Arizona State University on such things as:
• Estimating annual and seasonal visitors
• Operations needed to ensure long-term viability.
• A comprehensive estimate of operations costs including staffing, building maintenance, visitor services, programming, parking/transportation.
• Consultation during the design phase to advance the museum program within the overall project.
The selected consultant will be an important resource to suggest materials and artifacts to be displayed, provide exhibit concepts based on the McCain narrative, and consider the requirements for developing and constructing changing exhibits related to likely McCain themes. They also will assess archival materials, work with the ASU librarian, help develop collateral materials and participate in events that promote the library project.
“This is an important first step as we move from a concept to a library project,” said Duke Reiter, Executive Director, University City Exchange. “We’re moving forward to create something special, and this will be an important role to help us bring a vision to life.”
The consultant is expected to be named in June.
President Biden announces a national library to honor John S. McCain III
President Joe Biden on Thursday announced a major federal grant to the state of Arizona to help design and build a new McCain Library and Museum at Arizona State University.
The McCain Library and Museum will honor the life and legacy of the late John McCain, who represented Arizona first as a U.S. representative and then as a longtime U.S. senator and a Republican presidential nominee.
Joined by members of the McCain family at the Tempe Center for the Arts, Biden called the plans a fitting tribute to his good friend, longtime fellow member of Congress and American statesman. He described his 40-year-long friendship with McCain, which transcended their political differences and their sparring in the Senate.
“We were like two brothers, we argued like hell, really go at one another and then we’d go to lunch together,” he said. “We traveled the world together.”
He said they remained friends even as they were running against each other in 2008, when McCain was the Republican presidential candidate and Biden was Barack Obama’s running mate on the Democratic ticket. Biden told the audience Thursday that when visiting Vietnam recently, he thought about McCain, who was a prisoner of war for more than five years during the Vietnam War.
“I thought about how much America missed John right now, and needed John’s foresight and courage,” he said. “And now history has brought us to a new time of testing. Very few of us will ever be asked to endure what John McCain endured, but all of us are being asked right now: What will we do to ensure our democracy?”
The new 80,000-square-foot national library will include archives for McCain’s papers and materials from his decades of high-profile work in Arizona, Washington and around the globe while in office. A visitor’s center and an Arizona home for the Washington, D.C.-based McCain Institute are among other elements planned for the site, envisioned as a solutions center and gathering spot to learn more about leadership, democracy and national security.
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ASU home to John McCain’s archives
In 2012, Sen. John McCain donated his papers to Arizona State University. The archive, known simply as the McCain Collection, offers a glimpse into the senator’s career in American politics, including his 2008 presidential campaign. More than 800 boxes of his materials — records, photographs, correspondence — were added in 2018, where they are accessible to scholars, historians and the public.
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