More than 100 members of the University of Chicago faculty are asking the Obama Foundation to move the proposed library honoring the 44th president to a new location because the plan as currently constituted is “socially regressive.”
The Obama Presidential Center will not provide the “promised development or economic benefits” to surrounding neighborhoods, the professors write and could cost more than $100 million in state funds.
“We are concerned that these are not the best ways to use public funds to invest in the future of Chicago,” the letter reads.
The library will also take over large sections of two historic public parks, Jackson Park and Midway Plaisance, and force the closure of a major South Side thoroughfare, Cornell Avenue. The professors argue it’s a “traffic-jam in the making.” – READ MORE
[divider][/divider]In their effort to break the mold, the planners of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago are taking heat for some less-than-lofty features in the sprawling complex.
Namely, a “test kitchen.”
Reports first surfaced last fall that the monument to the first black president’s legacy was taking on an activity-center vibe. There would be a museum – but also a basketball court, possibly a room for yoga classes, and a test kitchen to teach visitors “about the full production cycle of nutritious food.”
It’s a reference to former first lady Michelle Obama’s campaign for healthy eating and lifestyles.
But Chicago Tribune columnist Ron Grossman trashed the “test kitchen” idea as not worthy of the ideals and history for which the presidential center is supposed to stand.
“What brought me up short was a space in the adjoining Forum building labeled ‘test kitchen.’ Presumably that reflects Michelle Obama’s war on junk food. The museum’s champions similarly suggest it could host yoga classes,” he wrote. “President Obama, is that how you want to be remembered? As the healthy-eating and meditation-advocating president?” – READ MORE
[give_form id=”79809″] [divider][/divider]RELATED: Preservationist groups are warning that the planned Barack Obama Center in Chicago may violate federal laws against destroying sites placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Obama Center is currently planned to spread out over sections of three sites with history stretching back to 1869, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
The portion of Jackson Park that Obama intends to disrupt with his massive new project includes the area where the World’s Columbian Exposition was staged in Jackson Park and the Midway in 1893. Created by famed architect Daniel Burnham—the man who planned New York’s Central Park—the Midway was placed on the historic site registry in 1972.
Obama’s center is also expected to disrupt a portion of Frederick Law Olmsted’s Washington Park, a site that was added to the registry in 2004. (BREITBART)
[divider][/divider]Former President Barack Obama may need some additional cash flow to get the Obama Presidential Center built in Chicago, according to a report.
The architects said the center needs an endowment of $1.5 billion, three times more than the amount raised for George W. Bush’s presidential center that opened in Dallas in 2013, Page Six’s Richard Johnson reports.
They attributed the high cost to the construction of both a library and museum. The architects said the expected $200 million cost of the buildings themselves likely will be closer to $300 million.
They noted Obama declined to do much fundraising for the center while still in office, Johnson reports. Sources told NBC 5 Obama is about to begin a major fundraising effort for the project. (NBC CHICAGO)
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