Emanuel Taking "Very Active Role" In Bid To Bring Obama Library To Chicago
CHICAGO (CBS) -- With two local bids for the Barack Obama Presidential Library seemingly in trouble, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said he's taking a more active role in making sure the library comes to Chicago.
The Barack Obama Foundation voiced concerns about the University of Chicago's bid for the presidential library and museum, because its proposals would rely on using property owned by the Chicago Park District, not the university.
Columbia University in New York City – where Obama earned his undergraduate degree – also has mounted a strong well-financed bid for the library, and owns the property it has proposed using. Columbia reportedly is now seen as the frontrunner.
Emanuel said he's scheduled public hearings for next week on a possible transfer of ownership of two plots of land – one in Washington Park, and one in Jackson Park – in an effort to ease the foundation's concerns about the University of Chicago's bid.
"We're going to start the public process to address the concerns that were raised, and issues, so there will be no concerns, no issues. This will be an easy decision to pick the city of Chicago," he said.
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Should the Barack Obama Foundation get a guarantee the city or University of Chicago has control of the proposed sites, Chicago would again be seen as the frontrunner.
Emanuel said he can't imagine the library going anywhere other than President Obama's hometown.
"I do not want the decision to come – given that it's now narrowed from multiple cities down to two cities – that Chicago after the case would look back and say 'Woulda, coulda, shoulda.' So I'm going to play a very active role," he said.
The mayor said he's determined Chicago will get the educational and economic benefits from having the Obama Presidential Library.
"I want to make sure that, if there's any issues, that we resolve those so we're competitive against New York and this becomes an easy decision for the president to pick his hometown for where his presidential library, in my view, belongs," he said.
Coming to the rescue of the University of Chicago's bid certainly wouldn't hurt the mayor's re-election efforts, not that anyone is talking publicly about that as motivation.
According to published reports, the library also is worried about UIC's bid, due to the upcoming shift in leadership at the University of Illinois – which is getting a new president, a new board chairman, and a new chancellor for the UIC campus this year. The foundation is uncertain whether incoming leadership at the University of Illinois will have the same commitment to the library as current leadership.
