From disapprovals over the design to concerns about parking, the Obama Presidential Center has been met with strong opposition since its unveiling. In particular, residents of Chicago's South Side, where the center will be located, have been quite critical of the Foundation's location choice as well as its refusal to sign a Community Benefits Agreement.
Joining in on the conversation, more than 100 University of Chicago faculty members have now penned a letter concerning the Obama Center, opposing its plans on economic and preservation grounds. Though faculty members support locating the Center in Chicago's South Side—near the university where the former President once taught—they share concerns expressed by neighborhood groups about its currently planned placement at Jackson Park.
According to the criticism, locating the Center in Jackson Park (as opposed to another spot in South Side), limits its ability to provide promised development and economic benefits to the surrounding area. As the letter states, "it looks to many neighbors that the only new jobs created will be as staff to the Obama Center" since there isn't available adjacent land from which new businesses could benefit.
Additionally, preservationist groups are warning that it may violate federal laws against destroying sites placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Obama Center, as current plans call for, will take over large sections of an historic public park, effectively taking public land and putting it in the hands of a private entity—a bizarre move from someone who, while in office, set aside more public land for preservation and conservation than any other president in U.S. history.
In the meanwhile, the Obama Foundation has announced this afternoon that it will shift the location of its parking garage—which was to controversially be an above-ground structure—from east end of Midway to underground in Jackson Park, between the proposed library building and athletic center. They also announced last week that they have chosen a collective of five firms—most of them owned by African-Americans—to manage the building's construction.
3 Comments
No good deed...
Dear All,
I object to the Obama Library for two reasons for one primary reason:
1. The selected site is the WRONG location!
a. To take up public urban open space with ANYTHING but public open space is wrong!
b. The Library Complex should be located deep in the South Side, not on its periphery.
These points are not made as a criticism of the architecture of TWBTA!
Well, the structure does look like a Chinese-food take-out container. There is that.
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.