Plans for the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park are being firmed up largely out of public view, and one watchdog group is sounding the alarm about the lack of transparency.
Decisions on the design of the center, the park’s golf course and even whether to eliminate some roads in the park are being worked out by the Obama Foundation, City Hall and the Chicago Park District.
— Chicago Sun Times
Designed by the New York-based firm Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, the Obama Presidential Center will consist of three buildings—a museum, a forum, and a library located near a lagoon that runs into Lake Michigan in Chicago's Jackson Park neighborhood. However, recently Jackson Park Watch has sent a letter to City Hall outlining their concerns about the lack of transparency throughout the planning process.
After many months, the Chicago Park District and the Chicago Department of Transportation have not yet put a price tag on the roadway and infrastructure changes tied to the Obama Center and the proposal to merge the Jackson Park and South Shore golf courses into a single championship-caliber course, which would involve closing Cornell Drive and Marquette Drive, building a pair of new underpasses, possibly an underground garage and improving the shoreline.
The past four community meetings in June and July have not provided the public with any details about proposed street changes, the Chicago Sun Times reports.
29 Comments
Although I am a great fan of Obama, the depreciation of public open space for his library is a further example, add the Lucas Museum, of cultural deafness by "cultural elites." The Obama Library should be integrated into the local urban community as an inspiration and center for the residents.
How do you spell 'payoffs'?
The Obamas will be 'worth' $200m within 5 years.
I think you're underestimating his potency as a Bad MOFO. I think at least $750m.
This presidential library has been brought to you by Goldman Sachs.
The same Goldman Sachs that paid Hillary umpteen thousand dollars for a couple of snoozer speeches? The same Goldman Sachs that has people plugged- in all over the place in the Trump administration?
IDGAF who pays, but I am intrigued by the notion that we're holding the Nation's first African American President to a higher standard than other precedents.
But go on.
Yeah, you're right, geez, I mean how would the Pentagon Papers, or the Watergate Break In ever going to be uncovered, without Wikileaks?
Typists.
I don't know, I think WaPo and NYT are on the case, and aren't failing, despite the fucking Hair Furor.
@b3ta Bezos owns WaPo and is a member of the Pentagon's Defense Innovation Advisory Board. He also received a $600 million contract from the CIA. I can't get through 2 paragraphs of the NYT without tripping over historical revisionism, critical omissions, outright lies, or "anonymous officials citing secret documents".
b3tadine[sutures], Why do you have so much faith in the NY Times and the Washington Post? Is it just because Trump hates them, and so you do the opposite of what Trump does?
Beta, if you suspect an "outlier," just check across the history of posts about presidential libraries.
https://archinect.com/news/article/93925/stern-unveils-design-for-the-george-w-bush-presidential-center
Yeah, there's the call out in that thread, but even in the other threads specific to the Obama library there seems to be more a desir e to control how the work is is done. I'm not sure if it's a sign of the times, but it's not the same architectural commentary.
I haven't been following this as closely as Chicagoans, but how did a presidential library turn into a professional golf course, an underground parking garage, and a park redo? The problem seems to be not the library itself, but everything else that is getting tagged onto the project.
Becuase Presidential Libraries reflect values in place ...
The "values in place" are an upgraded golf course and a parking deck. Hmmm, okay...
Yes, a scary reflection no?
I agree. That's why I wish they would focus more on the library/park and less on the golf course/parking. I can't tell if the golf course/parking is coming from the Obama Foundation or is being tagged on by the City. It does seem like they need a bit more transparency with the process, but I'm not close enough to it to know the details.
It is being built on existing city park land. Several baseball diamonds and a running track, among other things, are going to be torn up. The group funding the library was supposed to give plans to replace the lost features elsewhere in the city close enough so that the people affected could use the new facilities, but to date - nada from the Obama group.
According to the site plan, the football field and track were moved from the north portion of the site to the south. A baseball diamond and softball diamond were lost, but given that there are plenty of other baseball and softball diamonds in the park, I don't see the issue. The site design itself seems on the surface to be thoughtful and equitable; I still question why they are redoing the rest of the park and golf courses. It seems like a whole separate project - I'm not sure why the two are being conflated.
Jackson Park, proposed site of the Obama library in Chicago, was named after.......Andrew Jackson. Clearly a name change for the park is in order? If Andy can't ride his horse on a statue in New Orleans I don't see how a park could remain named after him in Chicago.
I've been looking at this design for months now, and still can't figure out where they're going to put the hill of skulls after they're done cutting the hearts out of their victims.
Oh, no that's for your Dumpster of a President, Trump.
^ In the skulpture garden, of course.
Getting rid of those hearts, though... that's the messy part. Of course, those pulled from R's are too small to cause problems. But the big, fat, bleeding ones ripped out of the D's chests? Ewwwww...
The library won't have books, it will have row upon row of human skulls.
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