Clock Ticking on Commission's Attempt to Acquire Clintons' Former Home
Owners Give Group Until Wednesday To Make An Offer
Last updated Monday, December 13, 2004 10:37 PM CST in News
By Sarah Terry
The Morning News
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FAYETTEVILLE -- The Fayetteville Advertising & Promotion Commission today will continue seeking partners to acquire the former Fayetteville home of President Clinton.
James and Janet Greeson, who have lived in the house at 930 California Blvd. since 1983, are selling it because of increased traffic in the area. The Greesons told commissioners Monday they want an offer on the house by Wednesday.
"We need to have an actual offer that can be acted upon," James Greeson said. "We need to arrive at an agreement this week, pretty much by Wednesday.
"We have an offer that's been placed to us that needs to be resolved," Greeson said. "We've been waiting over six weeks at the request of this commission. We can't wait indefinitely."
Mayor Dan Coody, who sits on the commission, said it will ask University of Arkansas officials to buy the home. Coody said the commission could work with the UA in the future to operate the house as a tourist site.
"We're going to see if the university would pick it up for their use, and we can deal with this at a future date," he said. "It needs to stay in the public domain.
"We are out of the purchase," he said. "This would put the building in a holding pattern to secure for a future conversation. We couldn't move as quickly as we needed to and the university can."
Commission chairman David McGeady said it's highly unlikely the commission could draft an offer by Wednesday.
"It's almost literally impossible within 48 hours to come up with a concrete decision," McGeady said. "We're probably, at this juncture, better off with the university acquiring it."
The one-bedroom, one-bathroom house was built in 1931. Bill and Hillary Clinton, who lived in the home from August 1973 to December 1976, were married there Oct. 11, 1975, while they were members of the University of Arkansas' law school faculty.
The Greesons first approached the commission about buying the house in November. The group considered buying it for a museum of the Clintons' time in Fayetteville, using memorabilia and photographs to catalog their experience.
The commission spent $1,000 to appraise the house and conduct a structural engineering assessment. Real Estate Consultants appraised the 1,790-square-foot home at $199,000 -- $40,000 less than other appraisals of the home, according to the Greesons who want $285,000 to $300,000 for it.
"It's worth what a buyer would pay, and who knows what a buyer would pay?" said Janet Greeson. "I don't think the appraisals are that relevant."
The structural assessment said the house is functional but needs about $75,000 in improvements, including repairs to a separation wall in the basement that is dislodged and strengthening the floor framing.
Commissioner Curtis Shipley urged commission employees to seek partnerships with the Clinton Foundation and UA.
"I certainly don't want to see the house torn down," Shipley said. "It would be nice to partner with all those groups.
"I'm concerned about parking on California," he added. "I'm certainly not opposed to the project. I would just like to see some partners."
The house would need an extensive security system, Shipley said, and an employee to work at the house.
"The commission needs to ask itself if you want to take ... on the whole nine yards," he said. "There's the question of who's going to operate and maintain it.
"I would encourage this group to take a long look at it before you jump in feet first," Shipley said. "We need to carefully look at what the real cost will be. It'll be substantial.
"These museums are not cost-free," he added. "They are expensive to operate and maintain. If you get into the museum business, you're going to operate the thing from now on."
Allyson Twiggs, manager of the city's convention and visitors bureau, said a partnership would be "the only way to do it." But there are, as yet, no confirmed partners.
Commissioners toured the house Monday afternoon before their meeting. Janet Greeson said President Clinton's book "My Life" contained several references to the house, including the orange and yellow colors formerly used in the kitchen.
"It was truly orange," Greeson said. "They moved in in the '70s and psychedelic orange and yellow were truly the colors."
In his book, Clinton also refers to wallpapering the breakfast nook, plastering the walls in the living room and sleeping in the screened-in porch during the summer. The porch was enclosed in the mid-1990s.
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