Note: Given its height of 242 feet, yesterday’s Fulton Labs at 400 N Aberdeen would actually place as #20 in the countdown rather than #22. For the sake of consistency, today’s entry and tomorrow’s entry will still be labeled as #21 and #20, respectively.
Claiming the 21st spot in YIMBY’s year-end countdown is the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park. The Obama Foundation recently broke ground on its cultural campus centered around the 219-foot-tall museum tower designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects and landscape architecture by Michael van Valkenburg Associates.
Obama Presidential Center. Photo by Jack Crawford
Obama Presidential Center. Photo by Jack Crawford
Obama Presidential Center. Photo by Jack Crawford
Obama Presidential Center. Photo by Jack Crawford
Obama Presidential Center. Visual by Jack Crawford
Obama Presidential Center. Visual by Jack Crawford
Obama Presidential Center. Rendering by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects
Becoming the second presidential library for the state along with the Lincoln Library in Springfield, the new center replaces an underutilized football field, which has been relocated, and adjoining green spaces. The design of the main tower represents four hands coming together in ascension and holds the library, which will operate differently than its predecessors by being completely digital and borrowing its collection from an off-site archive.
Obama Presidential Center. Photo by Jack Crawford
Obama Presidential Center. Rendering by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects
Obama Presidential Center. Rendering by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects
Groundbreaking of the Obama Center by The Obama Foundation
Obama Presidential Center. Rendering by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects
Obama Presidential Center. Visual by Jack Crawford
Obama Presidential Center. Photo by Jack Crawford
The new center will also build new community facilities spread out into various low slung buildings including creative spaces, dining, a museum, a new Chicago Public Library location, and athletic recreation facilities. The grounds will also contain various plazas, green spaces, rooftop gardens, playground, sledding hills, and a large stormwater treatment wetland open for nature walks.
Obama Presidential Center. Photo by Jack Crawford
Obama Presidential Center. Photo by Jack Crawford
Obama Presidential Center. Photo by Jack Crawford
Obama Presidential Center. Photo by Jack Crawford
Obama Presidential Center. Photo by Jack Crawford
Obama Presidential Center. Visual by Jack Crawford
Obama Presidential Center. Visual by Jack Crawford
Obama Presidential Center (blue, lower left). Visual by Jack Crawford
Scheduled to open in 2025, the $830 million project is predicted to attract over 750,000 annual visitors and boost the local area’s economy and tourism. The center will also collaborate with the University Of Chicago as a research center and contribute to the continued growth of Hyde Park that has recently brought new hotels, campus buildings, and more.
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This will be a marvelous addition to Jackson Park, the south side, and the city of Chicago.
Presidential libraries generally experience steep declines in attendance. I can’t see 750,000 for more than a year if it even approaches that number which is astronomical and would make it far and away the most successful of its kind. The ties to UChicago will certainly be a boost for it’s success however. I don’t see how it can spur the redevelopment of Woodlawn with the radicals wanting community benefit agreements and will sue/protest over every proposal for progress.
You call them radicals, I call them shakedown artists.
Oh I forgot that it was the resident of Woodlawn who tore down all the buildings on 63rd and removed the green line… so some townhomes could be built and parking lots expanded next to a church. So the residents are unjustified in making sure their interests are considered after their needs and neighborhood has been neglected for so long. How dare they!