Obama Presidential Center to open in Chicago after nearly a decade of planning
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
A statue depicting former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama during their 2009 inauguration parade stands outside the entrance to the Museum Tower at the Obama Presidential Center. Photo: Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images
The moment Chicago has been waiting nearly a decade for has arrived: The Obama Presidential Center opens Thursday in Jackson Park.
Why it matters: It's a full-circle moment for Barack and Michelle Obama, who began their public lives as community organizers and are now opening a permanent civic institution in the same city that shaped them.
The latest: A star-studded lineup of former presidents, dignitaries and entertainers will gather at the center's John Lewis Plaza at 11am Thursday for the grand opening. Watch the livestream here.
- The center opens to the public on Friday.
What they're saying: At a Tuesday-night event for supporters, Michelle Obama turned to her husband and said: "Thank you for doing this for the South Side of Chicago."
Zoom in: This week has been a homecoming for the former president and first lady, who arrived Monday and have hosted events leading up to the opening.
- Also, former Obama staffers, stakeholders and politicos are in town for the celebration.
The big picture: The center permanently ties Obama's political legacy to the city that launched his political career and supported him through multiple local campaigns before his election in 2008.
Context: It was 2021 when former President Obama, Michelle Obama, Gov. JB Pritzker and then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot broke ground on the sprawling campus on the west side of Jackson Park.
- "It's about reimagining this beautiful park," Michelle Obama said at that groundbreaking. "It's about making it a place that welcomes people in, and not just folks from around the world, but families like mine who live right down the street."
- Valerie Jarrett, the longtime Obama advisor and current head of the Obama Foundation, said at the time that the center would be "a catalyst for change that each one of us is capable of making, beginning here in Chicago and rippling across the world."
- "The goal for me has been to create something that is a living monument, not to me, but to this idea of American citizenship," former President Obama said on "The Today Show" in May.
By the numbers: The 19.3-acre center includes a museum exhibit, a 225-foot tower, an NBA-regulation-sized basketball court, a sledding hill, cafes and restaurants, a public library, and a winding 58,000-square-foot lawn with a public playground.
- The center breaks with the tradition of presidential libraries by not housing presidential archives, largely because Obama's presidency was the first to rely primarily on digital records.
Zoom out: The opening caps a yearslong effort marked by lawsuits, neighborhood debate, construction delays and soaring costs. The original cost projections were around $350 million, but due to construction delays and design changes, the privately funded center ended up costing about $850 million.
- It's the most expensive presidential center in the country's history.
Yes, but: A University of Chicago study says the center is expected to generate $220 million in annual economic activity for the surrounding neighborhoods and the city.
Reality check: The center sits adjacent to the Woodlawn neighborhood, and some residents are worried that economic activity will end up pricing lower-income neighbors out of the area.