Why the Obama Presidential Center won't be naming all spaces after donors
CHICAGO — After years of local pushback and a lengthy federal review process, construction on the Obama Presidential Center is underway, and the Obama Foundation has revealed it plans to name some spaces within the multibuilding complex after prominent civil rights and social justice advocates – not donors.
A groundbreaking ceremony on the South Side was held in September with former President Barack Obama, former first lady Michelle Obama, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. The center, located in Jackson Park along Lake Michigan, is set to open to the public in 2025.
In early December, the foundation released information about donors and said donations will be used to dedicate public spaces to "civil rights icons, social justice heroes and changemakers in public service, business and entertainment."
The foundation said it is "seeking to change the paradigm around naming public spaces" within the center, using it as "an opportunity to give donors the option to honor and elevate the names of those who have fought for a more just and equitable world," according to its website.
"We believe that there is incredible power in lifting up the names of extraordinary change agents upon whose shoulders we all stand," Obama Foundation CEO Valerie Jarrett said in a press release.
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At least 12 people, couples or foundations have donated more than $25 million to the center, according to a list of donors on the Obama Foundation website.
In November, the foundation announced the receipt of its largest contribution yet: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos contributed $100 million in honor of the late civil rights icon John Lewis. The center's plaza will be named for the congressman.
Michael Sacks and Cari Sacks, who are on the board of the foundation, donated and chose to name a museum exhibit in honor of Timuel Black, the historian and civil rights activist who died in October at age 102.
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Penny Pritzker and Dr. Bryan Traubert, also on the board, chose to name the auditorium in honor of Holocaust survivor and political activist Elie Wiesel, the foundation said in a statement. Pritzker is the Illinois governor's sister.
The foundation also announced a slew of other donors who planned to name a fruit and vegetable garden for Eleanor Roosevelt; a visitors' overlook for former Chicago Mayor Harold Washington, the first Black mayor of the city; and a museum exhibit for Mae Jemison, the first Black woman to travel to space.
The Obamas have described their vision for the center as an economic engine and interactive community hub drawing visitors from around the world and down the street. At the groundbreaking ceremony, Obama said the center won’t just be an "exercise in nostalgia" but "the world’s premier institution" for developing the next generation of civic leaders.
The foundation said it hopes the center brings 700,000 people to the South Side every year. Designed by architects Todd Williams and Billie Tsien, the center will consist of a museum, forum, public library, plaza, playground, and pedestrian and bicycle paths. The foundation estimated the project would cost $500 million, but officials have since said the total will likely be higher.
While the foundation announced the location of the center in 2016, the project was delayed because Jackson Park is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The National Park Service and Federal Highway Administration concluded their four-year review of the project in February.
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Local groups have raised concerns about the project for years. Park preservationists have warned about the effects on the historic parkland and proposed an alternative location for the center. And a coalition of community organizations has raised concerns that longtime residents will be displaced by rising prices in the area.
The area within a 2-mile radius of the Obama Presidential Center site is predominantly low income, and most residents are renters, according to a 2019 report by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Eviction rates are some of the highest in the city, and rent is rising in newly renovated and new construction units, which the majority of current renters cannot afford, according to the report.
The city and Obama Foundation have made a series of promises to address the coalition's concerns. The foundation committed to awarding half of the subcontracting packages for the center to businesses owned by minorities, women or veterans, and it pledged $850,000 to train 400 apprentices from the city's South and West sides.
Asked about the promises, spokesperson Charliese Agnew said the center has met its subcontracting packages goal and has helped 530 people enroll in trade preparation programs in partnership with local organizations.
"It's estimated the Center will generate up to 5,000 direct, indirect, and induced jobs during and after construction," Agnew said.
Last year, the city adopted an ordinance for the Woodlawn neighborhood – the neighborhood closest to where the center will be built – that required certain affordability requirements, appropriated about $4.5 million to rehabilitate existing affordable housing, and created a pilot program requiring an owner of a building with 10 or more units to give tenants an exclusive opportunity to make an offer on the property.
But several other neighborhoods in the area – such as Grand Crossing, South Shore and Hyde Park – have not received similar provisions.
Dixon Romeo, a member of the coalition who lives in the South Shore neighborhood, four blocks from where Michelle Obama grew up, said the group recently released a list of demands for housing protections in the neighborhood. South Shore has the highest eviction rate in the city, with an average of 1,800 evictions a year, according to the 2019 report.
"We're the same folks that voted for the president," Romeo said. "No one's against him, and no one's against having nice things in the Black community. But it's about, how can we stay?"
Asked about the demands, Agnew said the Obama Foundation "is committed to working closely with all of the residents and neighborhood organizations in the community surrounding the Center, including South Shore."
The foundation has also set up a fund that aims to invest $75 million in the expansion of economic development opportunities for residents of Chicago’s South Side, Agnew said.
Contributing: Claire Thornton, Paste BN