ASU to create national library honoring late Sen. John McCain

President Joe Biden has announced a grant to build a new McCain National Library at ASU. The library will honor the life and legacy of the late Senator John McCain. McCain first represented Arizona as a U.S. Representative, then as a longtime U.S. Senator and a Republican presidential nominee.

Biden was joined by members of the McCain family at the Tempe Center for the Arts. He called the plans a fitting tribute to his good friend, a 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.

Evelyn Farkas, executive director of the McCain Institute at ASU joined Arizona Horizon to explain the details.

“The memory of Senator McCain will be kept alive,” Farkas said. “The experience, who he was, is really important, not just for people in Arizona, but frankly for people all around the world.”

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.

The project will rejuvenate an often-overlooked 22.5-acre part of ASU. ASU has owned the land since 1980.

The university will work with the McCain family, Governor Katie Hobbs and Arizona community leaders to launch design and construction in the coming months.

The schedule and timeline for planning and development for the ASU project have not been established.