Obama announces his presidential center will officially break ground in Chicago this year

[left-of-center2012]

Former President Obama announced Wednesday that construction for his state-of-the-art presidential center in the South Side of Chicago will commence later this year.

“I’m proud to announce that the Obama Presidential Center (OPC) will officially break ground in 2021,” Obama announced on Twitter on Wednesday afternoon. “Our hope is that the center will breathe new life into historic Jackson Park while delivering jobs, growth, and much more to the South Side,” he continued. “Let’s get to work.”

The Obama Foundation acknowledged in its announcement about the planned groundbreaking earlier on Wednesday that the construction comes after “the conclusion of a robust four-year long federal review process” for the center.

Obama said in a video message accompanying the tweet on Wednesday that he and former first lady Michelle Obama knew “from the beginning” that there was only place for the center: the South Side of Chicago. “It’s where I met Michelle. Just a couple miles from where she grew up. Where Sasha and Malia were born. Where I became a community organizer and won my first election,” he said.

The Obama Foundation said development for the park will stretch across a "19.3-acre section of the 540-acre Jackson Park—more than 90 percent of which will remain open greenspace that is free and accessible to the public (18.1 of the 19.3 acres)." It added that the OPC campus will also feature a presidential museum, a “program, activity, and athletic center” and a children’s play area, and that it will pay homage to the former first lady’s White House garden with a “Fruit and Vegetable Garden and Teaching Kitchen” that will serve as a space “for young people and community members to learn.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/news/537221-obama-announces-his-presidential-center-will-officially-break-ground-in-chicago

[frazzled]

1. It's about time!

I hope this means that the Parks People have ended their never-ending legal attempts to stop them.

[msfiddlestix]

2. I had no idea there were any issues preventing the project in going forward

I love the details in the op, very unique and inspiring.

But I just assumed that the project was done and finished. Sounds like the OPC includes a huge park, plus a garden with a kitchen, and athletic center. I'm not clear if it also includes a performing arts center, but that would be cool too.

Seems like Parks People should be happy about these aspects??

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

3. My only issue would be taking away a big part of a nice Chicago park.

It sounds like they've solved it: most of the 19 acres will be accessible for park-goers.

A performing arts center would be a great plus, I agree, whether an auditorium or a bandshell.

[frazzled]

4. Part of it was government reviews

most certainly held up by the Trump administration. The Protect Our Parks guy is still posing challenges, but he will lose.

The roadblocks began with the Obamas’ decision to build the center in Jackson Park, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. That location, as well as the need to close and expand major adjacent streets, prompted a federal review in 2017 to evaluate the project’s effects on the historic properties. The review is known as “Section 106” and required under the 1966 National Historic Preservation Act. Two other federal processes, a National Environmental Policy Act review on the environmental impact and a “Section 4(f)” one on the project’s effects on protected parkland, also commenced.

On Wednesday, officials announced the NEPA federal review wrapped up, while the Section 106 and Section 4(f) reviews concluded at the end of 2020. But another hurdle arose in 2018 when the nonprofit Protect Our Parks sued the city of Chicago to halt the project, alleging that officials did not have the authority to transfer public parkland to a private nongovernmental entity such as the Obama Foundation.

A federal appeals court ruled in August that the plaintiffs did not suffer actual harm and many of their grievances were not within the court’s jurisdiction. Still, Herb Caplan, president and founder of Protect Our Parks, has said he is in the process of petitioning his lawsuit to be considered by the U.S. Supreme Court.

In a statement Wednesday, Caplan said “all the findings in the Federal Review are specious” and vowed further action.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/politics/ct-obama-presidential-center-groundbreaking-august-2021-20210203-ujj7n7jitnbxzhr3hkcdtzggy4-story.html