Return to Pointer View home page September 24,  2004

Senate gives preliminary approval for USMA library, housing projects

By Irene Brown 
Editor

A press release from the offices of New York Senators Charles E. Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton Tuesday announced the Senate has given preliminary approval for $48.927 million for military construction projects in the Hudson Valley. That total includes $34.5 million for a new cadet Library and Learning Center and $10.6 million for family housing renovations here.

“We are delighted with the news,” said Lt. Gen. William J. Lennox, Jr., West Point’s superintendent. “This new facility will keep West Point in the forefront of American undergraduate education.”

Lennox explained that when the current library was built, the school had 2,500 cadets. Today, it has 4,000.

“We have outgrown the old facility,” he added.

The academy will call the new library Thomas Jefferson Hall, in honor of the president who signed the legislation in 1802 founding West Point.

Clinton, who is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the money for West Point would continue to prepare the nation’s next generation of leaders.

“During my visit to West Point in 2003 I saw firsthand the remarkable education it provides our Army’s future leaders,” she said. “It has played a prominent role in the Army for generations and continues to be one of the finest learning centers in the country.

“I believe that now more than ever we need to continue this proud tradition and prepare our young leaders at West Point for the challenges of serving their country.”

Schumer agreed and said he is delighted with the funding.

“I’m pleased that this bill will help West Point continue its tradition of shaping the character of our future military leaders,” he said. “I’ve always been proud of the role that West Point, a New York institution, has played in educating those who serve their country and am happy that this funding will help continue that mission.”

Construction of the 145,000-square-foot building is expected to begin early next year and should be completed by summer 2007.

It will house the library’s current collection of close to 700,000 books and have roughly 900 study spaces and 12 group-study rooms.