Obamas Choose Jackson Park For Presidential Library
CHICAGO (CBS) -- President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama reportedly have decided to build the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park, choosing the site just east of the University of Chicago over Washington Park.
CBS 2 and CBS News have confirmed the Obama Foundation has chosen the Jackson Park site, with an official announcement expected in the coming days.
According to a map provided by the University of Chicago early in its bid for the presidential library and museum, the Jackson Park site would be located just east of Stony Island Avenue and just west of the Jackson Park lagoon, across the street from Hyde Park Academy High School. That section of Jackson Park currently is home to a pair of baseball diamonds and the Jackson Park Hockey Fields.
The foundation already has chosen renowned New York City architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien to design the Obama library, with Chicago-based Interactive Design Architects as a partner on the project.
No designs for the project have been released.
Officials have said the library center could open as soon as 2020. It is expected to cost more than $500 million, funded by private donations to the Obama Foundation.