Good evening, everyone:

I had the pleasure on Monday of previewing the programming and construction site of the Obama Presidential Center, arising on 13 acres of South Chicago’s Jackson Park.

The Center is actually a campus comprising: a museum and library with 30 exhibits and 50 “interactive media components” (including a video/digital display some 90 feet high); the “Forum” containing an auditorium, media labs for neighborhood residents, a restaurant, and multiple commissioned artworks; a branch of the Chicago Public Library; a public plaza; a garden inspired by Michelle Obama; outdoor mini-parks, including one featuring a water sculpture by Maya Lin; and multiple trail connections to the park.

The centerpiece is the museum and library designed by Tod Williams and Billie Tsien Architects. Williams was born in Detroit and is a graduate of the Cranbrook Academy; among the countless award-winning designs the team has executed are the Cranbrook Natatorium and the Girls’ Middle School at Cranbrook. With five floors of exhibits arranged thematically by President Obama and Mrs. Obama’s signature efforts, the building will have four distinct faces to the outside, filled with huge windows, a stained-glass wall (which is structural – one foot thick) rising four stories on the building’s west side, and multiple marble and treated concrete surfaces.

As spectacular as the museum and library will be, the President and Mrs. Obama have prioritized the campus’ connection to the park and to the neighborhood through walkways, gardens, and playgrounds:

And the campus wouldn’t be fully Obamicized without an athletic complex, which just broke ground last week:

The $800 million project in its entirety is scheduled to open in 2026. It will represent the longest period between a president leaving office and the completion of a namesake library.

But – having visited others – the wait will be worth it: this library/museum/community center/park will be unlike any that has gone before. It promises not only to help memorialize a pathbreaking presidency, but also to contribute to the vibrancy and long-term health of the southside neighborhoods of one of America’s great cities.

Rip

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