The Obama Foundation has formally announced that it has chosen Jackson Park as the Chicago location for Barack Obama’s presidential library. The nation’s 44th president worked as a community organizer on the South Side where he launched his political career by winning a seat in the Illinois State Senate.
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Last week, the Obama Foundation said building the museum in Jackson Park would have “the greatest long-term impact on the combined communities”.
The Barack Obama Foundation released an official statement on Friday through its chair, civic leader Martin “Marty” Nesbitt, describing the Obamas’ happiness with the decision and why it is so significant for their family and their legacy.
Get free real-time news alerts from the Hyde Park Patch. It attracted millions when it hosted the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893. And the library will be but a short walk from the University of Chicago, where Obama taught law. The South Side location has caused discussion in the neighborhood, which has slowly been gentrifying but is not as far along as other parts of the city. The South Side is home to the University of Chicago and the Museum of Science and Industry as well as businesses, but many neighborhoods are plagued by poverty and crime.
Both Jackson Park and Washington Park were designed by legendary architect Frederick Law Olmsted.
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Chicago beat out proposals by New York City, where Obama went to college, and Hawaii, where he was born, to be home to the library and museum, which are expected to be open to visitors by 2021.
