Chicago city council has approved an ordinance that spells out how the Barack Obama Presidential Center will become a reality.
Rendering of the Obama Presidential Center plaza (Courtesy of the Obama Foundation)
The Cliff’s Notes version is that the Obama Foundation must raise money to build the museum, then raise more money for an endowment to run it, then build the museum, then give the facility to City Hall, along with ten bucks. That’s a rent of 10¢ a year, for 99 years.
Even though several aldermen made harumph noises to the press before the city council session convened, not one voted against the project.
A number of community, environmental, and historical groups still oppose having the museum erected on 19 acres of public Jackson Park land. But the vote is expected to give City Hall the ammunition it needs to have a pending lawsuit dismissed.
Once that is done, the last remaining obstacles are federal reviews and approvals.
Rendering of the Obama Presidential Center (Courtesy of the Obama Foundation)
Location: 6225 South Stony Island Avenue, East Hyde Park
Editor founded the Chicago Architecture Blog in 2003, after a long career in journalism. He can be reached at chicagoarchitectureinfo@gmail.com.
