Obama Presidential Center Names Project Management Team
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Obama Foundation has selected a project management team to lead the task of building the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park.
Three Chicago-based companies – commercial real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle, architecture firm McKissack & McKissack, and engineering firm Ardmore Associates – will direct the process of designing and building the presidential library and museum, which is expected to cost more than $500 million.
McKissack & McKissack was the first African-American-owned architectural company in the U.S., and is the oldest minority-owned architecture and engineering firm in the nation.
The company also served as project manager for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American history, which opened last year in D.C.
Ardmore Associates also is Afrian-American-owned and operated. It was founded in 2003 by former Chicago Buildings Commissioner Cherryl Thomas.
Officials have said the Obama Presidential Center should be opened by 2020.
The Obamas already have selected the architecture team for the center – New York-based Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects and Chicago-based Interactive Design Architects. Designs for the center have not yet been released.