Lincoln library is ready for "ceremonial opening" The Associated Press SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - * The $115 million complex in Springfield, Ill., will eventually include a museum. The library will open to the public early next year. After all the lobbying, political squabbles, design changes and frantic construction, the first part of the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum is about to open. State and federal officials will gather Monday to cut the ribbon on the library, which will house the state's vast collection of Lincoln documents and artifacts as well as the state's entire historical library. Supporters hope it becomes the nation's top site for Lincoln research. The city hopes the $115 million complex becomes a major tourist attraction when the museum opens in 2004. City leaders plan to celebrate the library and the nation's 16th president throughout the weekend. Actors, artisans and musicians will demonstrate Lincoln-era crafts and music. "We are able to present not only the Lincoln story but the entire history of the state of Illinois in a very wonderful way," said Maynard Crossland, director of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Although the "ceremonial opening" is being held Monday, some work remains to be done on the building, clad in buff Egyptian limestone to match the colors of the Capitol and Old State Capitol. The library won't really open to the public until early next year, probably before Lincoln's Feb. 12 birthday, about two years after construction began. The Lincoln collection has been housed in a cramped office complex built under the Old State Capitol. Key documents are stored in a vault without a fire-suppression system, and less valuable items are left out in the open or crammed into overflowing storage areas. The new library offers twice the storage space - 6.5 miles of shelving in 22,000 square feet. The Lincoln collection will be in climate-controlled rooms. The most important documents will be kept in a high-tech vault with a system for putting out fires by filling the room with inert gases. The idea of building a Lincoln museum and library floated around for years. It really took off when Springfield provided land and money, and Gov. Jim Edgar began lobbying for what was then envisioned to be a $40 million facility. When Gov. George Ryan took office in 1999, he enthusiastically backed the project, which was growing to a price of $115 million in government funds and millions more in private support. But some critics have complained that the federal government's $50 million share amounts to "pork" for members of Illinois' congressional delegation. The National Park Service also has objected to supporting a state-run project from its federal budget. A street-level reading room will let people do research and plug their computers into the library's database. Lights and interior windows are decorated with a prairie-grass design. A fancier, circular reading room will be reserved for the most sensitive documents. Small exhibits will describe plans for the Lincoln museum across the street or highlight some aspect of Lincoln's life. High-tech rooms have been built for conferences and receptions. Desoto Joe/The Record Man