The Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park continues to progress, with the main tower’s core now approaching the halfway mark. The development of this center is being overseen by The Obama Foundation and will feature three primary public facilities: a museum, a forum building, and a library branch.
Obama Presidential Center. Photo by Jack Crawford
Obama Presidential Center. Photo by Jack Crawford
At 235 feet, the museum will be the focal point of the complex. It’s slated to showcase interactive displays on President Obama’s term in office, complemented by artifacts from both before and after his presidency. Additionally, the museum will host various programs to facilitate public engagement on current affairs, such as panel discussions and lectures.
Obama Presidential Center. Photo by Jack Crawford
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
The Forum Building is envisioned as a center for civic engagement. It will provide a platform for community discussions and house multiple features including versatile meeting spaces, educational venues for workshops like digital literacy or career readiness, offices for local nonprofits, and a range of amenities such as a restaurant, lecture hall, bookstore, gift shop, café, and a rooftop terrace.
Obama Presidential Center. Photo by Jack Crawford
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
Adding to the complex is a fresh branch of the Chicago Library. This facility will serve as a resource hub, providing informational materials, vocational tools, interactive zones for children, and a rooftop garden.
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
Obama Presidential Center. Rendering by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects
Obama Presidential Center. Rendering by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects
The design of the complex and its containing edifices has been led by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects and Interactive Design Architects, while the landscape design is the work of Michael van Valkenburgh Associates, Site Design Group, and Living Habitats. Each building is characterized by a beige masonry exterior coupled with expansive curtain wall windows. The museum stands out with its frustum-like structure, accentuated by a segment near its summit that features a quote from the ex-president, depicted in abstract metal lettering.
Obama Presidential Center. Rendering by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects
Obama Presidential Center. Rendering by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects
Externally, the design strategy aims to seamlessly blend the Obama Presidential Center with Jackson Park. This is achieved through various recreational zones, pathways, a sledding mound, and a pedestrian-friendly promenade.
Obama Presidential Center. Photo by Jack Crawford
Obama Presidential Center. Photo by Jack Crawford
Along with an on-site parking structure, the center is linked to various public transit routes. From the nearby S Stoney Island Avenue intersection, visitors will have bus access to Routes 2, 6, 15, and 28, while additional lines like Routes 10, 55, 59, and 171 are also within a short distance. For rail service, the University of Chicago/59th Street station of the Metra trains is also nearby.
Lakeside Alliance, a collaborative group consisting of Brown & Momen Inc, Powers & Sons Construction Company, Safeway Construction Company, UJAMAA Construction Inc., and Turner Construction Company, is overseeing the construction phase. With an estimated budget of approximately $500 million, the center is anticipated to open its doors in 2025.
Subscribe to YIMBY’s daily e-mail
Follow YIMBYgram for real-time photo updates
Like YIMBY on Facebook
Follow YIMBY’s Twitter for the latest in YIMBYnews
BRAVO, WELL DONE!
THE STRENGTH, THE PURITY, THE BOLDNESS OF ITS DESIGN, IS BUT A MERE REFLECTION OF THE PERSON WHO INSPIRED IT.
This thing is such an ugly turd of a building, it could have gone on any number of vacant lots in the immediate area but no, had to put the turd in the park.
I just think this thing won’t age well
Harrison you sound like a hater! But former President Obama was your president too!
Harrison B: Hands down, it’s around a lot longer than the Trump Casino in Atlantic City, the Trump International Hotel in DC and Trump Blvd on the UWS of Manhattan combined + 50 years.
And politics had nothing to do with that truly disgusting sentiment, amiright?
Clearly, only a boor would make a comment like this and it needs to come from a pre-determined bias instead of an architectural or urbanistic evaluation of the siting: Many museums and public buildings from Lincoln Park to Hyde Park are located in the parklands and they help to foster use and upkeep of said parks. I would think that if the parks of Chicago become SO OVERLOADED with use, that some of the empty lots further west can be purchased and joined together for new smaller green squares in the city. The architects are responsible, the client has made sure there are good uses inside and out, and it will be an economic amenity to Chicago which could surely use one. Let’s hope that the building serves as a beacon.
One persons “turd” is another person’s foie gras.
Would be good to know what is behind the ‘not aging well’ comment. No facts. Chicago has had a few buildings which fall into that category of not aging well, Standard Oil, State of Illinois. However the Architects for the Library have had a history of superior craftsmanship with the buildings they have executed. Time will tell.
it’s sad we allowed a megadevelopment to take over our public park. it’s a terrible precedent. privatization is the end of the commons.
It’s sad you’d make a comment without capitalizing the first word of the sentence, overstating the scope of the complex, and when Doug, was the last time you used “our public park”? Yes, Presidents are going to make a landgrab for Indian Boundary on the North Side, Jackson and Humboldt parks next…..just wait and see. Perhaps AMAZON will build a mall in Lincoln Park next to the Conservatory…..with parking for 1,000 cars.
As someone who actually walks in this park now and then for long dog walks, I can say that this redevelopment is a unique opportunity for Chicago and Jackson Park. The area along Cornell drive and the west side of the lagoon needed a lot of work anyway. Cornell Drive was not planned out well. The street is too wide, the cars speed through, and sidewalk is too close to the street to make it feel like a relaxing walk along that stretch. It is great that part of that street will be gone and the park will extend as one piece all the way across to Stony.
On top of that, the museum of SI has been isolated all the way down on 57th for so long. This new site is walkable from MSI, so it gives people something else to check out if they head down there. It will also get more people actually walking through the park.
This is something truly interesting and unique that will be there for years as a Chicago staple.
Beautiful
IDK… the people with the harshest commentary might be on to something. The unrealized talent of the cinderblock box across the way from the Puerto Rican Museum is true Chicago talent. The body shop-Esq embodies that grit and filth you stuff in the worst of car sewers.
More of that, and MAYBE this library can earn the respect of the public.
It is always a plus to have a Presidential Library housed in your hometown. In this case, it seems that President Obama is trying to create spaces inside the building that will be of interest to the community, families, and students. The rooftop garden and grounds will offer green spaces, pavillions, and seating for relaxing and promoting well-being. I think that a one or two-story building would have required too much land leaving no green space.
vanity project that commandeered public park land and destroyed countless trees
What a turd of a project. This is nothing but a scam political operation center that has been allowed to steal Chicago Park land. There is no presidential library component like Lincoln Presidental Library, and all the documents will be locked away for decades that point to what a scam this was. They are only allowing the CPL Library and small post office to be built as ways for the Obama’s to further soak the taxpayers to cover their operating costs and overhead, while they give friends and family members sweet millions of dollars in salaries. You watch, magically the city will be forced to pay for a portion of the parking garage and other hidden fees. Obama’s will be under reporting gate revenues as well.
Irony is all the U Chicago woke and ‘equity’ scammers who claim others are gentrifiers are sucking it up, buy property in Woodlawn, and driving out the poor blacks, just like Michelle wanted. There should be investigation into Rham and the politicians that allowed this, take away their non-profit status, and charge property taxes.
Design and land use opinions aside, everyone interested in this project should be aware that it is a presidential center but not a library in the same sense as other presidential libraries. The highest profile discussion of that distinction that I have read is The New York Times article titled “The Obama Presidential Library That Isn’t.”