Obama’s $850M center is finally opening. One name isn’t on the guest list
The Obama Presidential Center opens Thursday on Chicago’s South Side, giving former President Barack Obama a permanent institution in the city that launched his political career.
The $850 million project arrives after years of construction delays, legal fights and escalating costs, with Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama returning home for a dedication ceremony that marks the center’s official debut.
Obama and Michelle Obama will headline Thursday’s ceremony, which features performances from Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, John Legend, Jennifer Hudson, Bono, The Edge, Common and several other artists and public figures. The event serves as the public launch of a project that has been nearly a decade in the making.
The 19-acre campus breaks from the traditional presidential library model. Rather than serving as a repository for paper archives, the center combines a museum, community spaces, a public library branch, athletic facilities, restaurants and outdoor gathering areas intended to function as a year-round civic destination.
Visitors step inside Obama’s Oval Office
One of the museum’s centerpiece exhibits is a full-scale replica of the Oval Office.
Visitors can walk through the room, sit behind a replica of the Resolute Desk and interact with items tied to Obama’s presidency. Obama Foundation Vice President Josh Harris said the exhibit was chosen specifically by the former president.
“Many presidential libraries and institutions have some of these iconic features,” Harris said. “But President Obama chose the Oval Office. If you remember, the White House was designed to be the people’s house, and President Obama opened the White House to more people in our history than ever before.”
The museum is also the first presidential institution built around a fully digital archive. Unclassified records from Obama’s administration will be accessible through an online reading room rather than housed inside the building.
Michelle Obama has a major presence
The museum devotes significant space to Michelle Obama’s story and influence during the eight years she spent in the White House.
Several of her best-known dresses are on display, including the Narciso Rodriguez dress she wore on election night in Chicago and the Versace gown from her final state dinner as first lady. Visitors can also examine fabric samples from some of those garments.
Exhibits throughout the museum trace both Obamas’ roots on Chicago’s South Side and the political careers that ultimately carried them to the White House.
In an interview with ABC News, Obama said he remains most proud of governing with the broader public in mind.
“I’m very proud of the message we sent the message we sent to the country,” he said. “That why we’re representing everybody.”
“The thing that we were good at and allowed me to sleep at night and get up and go back at it was I always felt that when we were making decisions we were making decisions with the American people in mind.”
At Thursday’s opening event, three former U.S. presidents will be in attendance, in addition to Obama himself of course. The New York Times reports that George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Joe Biden are all expected. President Trump was not invited, according to the paper.
A long road to opening day
The center’s opening caps a project that spent years navigating lawsuits, redesigns, neighborhood opposition and rising construction costs.
When plans were first unveiled, estimates hovered around $350 million. The final price tag grew to roughly $850 million, making it the most expensive presidential center ever built.
Supporters argue the project will deliver a substantial economic boost to surrounding neighborhoods. Critics have worried that new investment could accelerate rising housing costs and make it harder for longtime residents to remain in the area.
Those debates are unlikely to disappear with Thursday’s ribbon cutting.
Round out your reading
- Could a common dietary supplement accelerate Alzheimer’s?
- NY AG Letitia James gets hundreds of taunts, racial slurs in ICE public reporting portal.
- As Musk becomes the first trillionaire, historian sees warning signs.
- An experimental weight loss drug is so effective, many Americans don’t care it’s not FDA approved.
- How search engine optimization reduced Simone Biles to an ‘NFL wife’.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
