Barack Obama Presidential Center
Planned library in Chicago
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| May 3 2025 | Lori Healey, who oversaw construction of the Obama Presidential Center, passed away. |
| 2024 | Groundbreaking for the fourth building, The Programs and Athletics Center (Home Court), designed by Moody Nolan Chicago and Renauld Deandre Mitchell, began construction. |
| June 2024 | A topping out ceremony was conducted for the center's tower. |
| June 16 2024 | Kenvi Phillips was appointed as the inaugural director of the Barack Obama Presidential Library, beginning a new term in leadership. |
| November 2022 | Construction was temporarily halted after a noose was discovered on the construction site. |
| September 28 2021 | Groundbreaking ceremony held with Barack Obama, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, and Chicago Mayor Lightfoot participating. |
| August 2021 | Construction of the Obama Presidential Center officially began. |
| August 2021 | The case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which denied the requested injunction against the City. |
| December 2020 | Federal review of the Barack Obama Presidential Center was completed, paving the way for future construction. |
| August 2020 | An agreement was reached regarding home improvement funds for homes in Woodlawn to address gentrification concerns. |
| July 2020 | A compromise ordinance was negotiated between the Lightfoot administration, Aldermen Taylor and Hairston, and community groups, establishing affordable housing requirements including 30% of units on 52 city-owned lots in Woodlawn to be reserved for low-income residents, and additional measures to support local homeownership and housing preservation. |
| January 2020 | Mayor Lori Lightfoot's administration announced support for a scaled-back version of a Community Benefits Agreement ordinance, which was met with continued support for the original ordinance from Alderman Taylor. |
| July 2019 | Local aldermen Jeanette Taylor and Leslie Hairston introduced an ordinance to protect affordable housing near the Obama Presidential Center development, proposing requirements for 30% of new housing units to be affordable within a 2-mile radius. |
| June 11 2019 | Judge Blakey ruled in favor of the City, dismissing the Protect Our Parks lawsuit blocking construction of the Obama Presidential Center. |
| June 3 2019 | The MacArthur Foundation issued a $5 million grant to the city of Chicago for plans to build a new Chicago Public Library branch at the Obama Presidential Center site. |
| February 19 2019 | Judge Blakey denied the city's motion to dismiss, allowing the Protect Our Parks lawsuit to proceed. |
| 2018 | The center announced an agreement to place a Chicago Public Library branch within the complex. |
| 2018 | The Obama Foundation released the proposed bid by the University of Chicago and the three other universities, detailing plans for the Presidential Center's location in Jackson Park. |
| November 23 2018 | The city of Chicago filed a motion to dismiss the Protect Our Parks lawsuit. |
| October 31 2018 | The Chicago City Council unanimously approved new proposals for the Obama Presidential Center. |
| October 24 2018 | U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey held a status conference for the Protect Our Parks lawsuit against the center's construction. |
| September 20 2018 | Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel submitted two ordinances to the Chicago City Council regarding the Obama Presidential Center's lease and park reconfiguration. |
| September 18 2018 | Announcement made that the center will be owned by the city of Chicago once completed, without tax-based operating or capital support. |
| September 17 2018 | The Chicago Park District suspended construction related to the Center following meetings with the National Park Service and the Federal Highway Administration. |
| August 2018 | The Chicago Park District began cutting trees to relocate park facilities, including the Jackson Park athletic field. |
| July 27 2018 | The Obama Foundation announced a delay in groundbreaking, pushing the timeline beyond the initially planned 2021 opening. |
| May 2018 | City of Chicago agreed to lease land to the Obama Presidential Center (OPC) for 99 years. |
| May 2018 | The preservationist group 'Protect Our Parks' filed a lawsuit to prevent part of Jackson Park from being used for the Obama Presidential Center. |
| May 2018 | The Chicago Plan Commission approved the plan to build the Obama Presidential Center. |
| 2017 | Federal government began a review of the Barack Obama Presidential Center project due to Jackson Park's historic designation and potential roadway changes. |
| May 2017 | Preliminary plans were unveiled, featuring three geometric buildings covered in light-colored stone. |
| May 2017 | Louise Bernard, previously the Director of Exhibitions at the New York Public Library, was named director of the Museum of the Obama Presidential Center. |
| February 2017 | Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects released the concept design for the Obama Presidential Center, estimating construction costs of the museum and library at approximately $300 million and suggesting an endowment need of $1.5 billion. |
| 2016 | Michael Strautmanis was appointed as the vice-president of civic engagement for the Obama Foundation. |
| July 29 2016 | The foundation announced the selection of a portion of Jackson Park in the Woodlawn neighborhood as the center's location. |
| June 2016 | The foundation selected Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects and Interactive Design Architects to jointly lead the design and engineering of the center. |
| December 2015 | Seven architectural firms were announced as finalists for the Presidential Center design, selected from an initial list of 140 applicants. |
| May 2015 | The foundation's board announced the decision to build the center in partnership with the University of Chicago, where Barack Obama had previously taught constitutional law from 1992 to 2004. |
| 2014 | The Obama Foundation released details for institutions interested in being the location of the Presidential Center, inviting bids from potential host universities. |
| January 2014 | The Obama Foundation was formally established, marking the official start of the organization dedicated to Barack Obama's presidential legacy and future initiatives. |
This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia article Barack Obama Presidential Center, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.