The Moody Nolan-designed Obama Presidential Center Programs & Athletics Center project in Chicago’s Jackson Park has been scheduled to break ground later this month.

Project updates were reported late last week by the Chicago Sun-Times on the occasion of former President Obama's visit to McCormick Place to see a half-scale mockup of the 88-foot "Power of Words" video installation, the largest of 50 that will grace the Obama Presidential Center when it opens at a recently revised date in 2026.

The new opening date was provided by Obama Presidential Foundation CEO Valerie Jarrett in an update to local reporters. The Center is slated to include three other buildings: the main museum tower from TWBTA, a new Chicago Public Library branch, and a forum/auditorium space with an indoor winter garden, completed by Maya Lin's water garden design and a 19.3-acre landscaped design by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates. 

Moody Nolan's contribution follows their completed work on the nearby Wintrust Arena for DePaul University and will be delivered in a new 45,000-square-foot footprint, up from the 28,000-square-foot design that was originally proposed when the project was first announced in 2017.

The project will include 50% subcontractors certified as minority-owned businesses (MBEs).  

“It’s an incredible honor to design this community asset that will sit alongside the presidential museum honoring our first Black president,” Moody Nolan's Renauld Deandre Mitchell says of the opportunity to design such an important space in his native Chicago. “President Obama and I share a commitment to mentoring and creating opportunities for the next generation of Black leaders and the Foundation’s belief in us will allow us to do more of this with young architects supporting the work of this project.”

A joint venture between BOWA Construction and AECOM/Hunt is under contract for the Programs & Athletics Center's construction.