UNIVERSITY PARK — Southern Methodist University’s seven-year quest to help cultivate the presidential legacy of George W. Bush ended Friday morning with the announcement his library and policy center is coming to the campus.

University trustees unanimously approved a resolution directing SMU President R. Gerald Turner to enter into an agreement that will bring the nation’s 13th presidential library to a site just north of downtown Dallas. The two sides had been in exclusive negotiations since December 2006.

"This is a big deal. A very big deal," Don Evans, chairman of the George W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation, said Friday during the announcement on campus. "We are at a defining moment in our history … and this is a historic moment."

For SMU, the prize immediately raises the school’s prestige and national status, even as some Methodists, alumni and faculty members have voiced criticism of the university’s pursuit. For the president, it brings his library to the place where first lady Laura Bush graduated and near where he is expected to make his home.

“I look forward to the day when both the general public and scholars come and explore the important and challenging issues our Nation has faced during my presidency – from economic and homeland security to fighting terrorism and promoting freedom and democracy,” President Bush wrote in a letter to Dr. Turner on Friday.

Library leaders hope to break ground on the complex in 2009 with construction completed within five years.

The policy center will be operated largely independent from the university. Dr. Turner on Friday assured that academic freedom will be maintained on campus.

"If on any occasion it falls short of that, I trust our faculty to point that out," he said.