President Barack Obama and the first lady said in a statement they are “thrilled” that his presidential library will go up in Jackson Park, “in the heart of Chicago’s South Side, a community we call home and that means the world to us”. NPR reports that the location of the new presidential library was also the location of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.
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For open-space advocates, the selection of Jackson Park was a disappointment because the park offers less flexibility than Washington Park would have offered.
In a statement last week, the Obama Foundation seemed to conclude that more visitors would be drawn to Jackson Park and that building the library there would have “the greatest long-term impact on the combined communities”.
The location was selected over Washington Park, also on Chicago’s South Side. The park, which is not far from the Obama’s Chicago home, is also a stone’s throw from the DuSable Museum of African American History and the campus of the University of Chicago.
Grimshaw, a longtime resident of the area who grew up playing in Washington Park, said building the library there could have reversed population decline and created more economic opportunity.
The group urged the Obama Foundation to actively minimize the center’s impact on the parkland. Obama said he and first lady Michelle Obama “can’t wait to forge new ways to give back to the people of Chicago who have given us so much”.
CHICAGO- A powerful community advocacy group in Chicago said Wednesday that while it opposes President Obama’s plan to build his future presidential library and museum on city parkland it will not put up a legal battle to try to stop him.
Officials from the Obama Foundation, the city and the University of Chicago will discuss the announcement at a press conference at the Museum of Science and Industry Wednesday.
Adjacent plots of land outside Washington Park, totaling 11 acres, were available for the presidential center and could have housed a parking deck, offices, perhaps even the library itself. “Friends of the Parks looks forward to working with the Foundation, the City, the Chicago Park District and the University of Chicago to protect and promote parkland, public space and public access”. Kamin points out that controlling gentrification will have to be a high priority in the development of the new presidential library and museum in order to ensure President Obama’s goals in giving back to the South Side residents who live in the area now.
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Both Jackson Park and Washington Park were designed by legendary architect Frederick Law Olmsted.
