History, Aesthetics Give Jackson Park The Edge For Obama Library
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Civic leaders hailed the decision to build President Barack Obama's presidential library and museum in historic Jackson Park as a boon for tourism, economic development, and community pride on the South Side.
Meantime, while Friends of the Parks said it remains opposed to building the center in a park, it said it will not sue, because Jackson Park is not public trust land. The group's legal challenge to the lakefront plan for the Lucas Museum ultimately led to filmmaker George Lucas' decision to try to build it in California, instead.
The Barack Obama Foundation formally announced Wednesday the $500 million Obama Presidential Center would be built in Jackson Park, which is located just south of the Museum of Science and Industry, which already draws 1.5 million visitors a year.
"For the first time in this country's history, a presidential center will be in the heart of an urban community," Obama Foundation chairman Marty Nesbitt said.
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The University of Chicago presented both Jackson Park and Washington Park as options for the library in its successful bid for the center, and Nesbitt said the choice between the two was not easy.
"The President and First Lady saw that both sites were exceptional locations, and we actually didn't think we ended up having to choose between them, that this is actually one community, and the distinction … is really an artificial one," he said.
The library likely will be located on a 21-acre site 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.
With the Jackson Park lagoon as a backdrop, Nesbitt pointed to the aesthetics of Jackson Park and its historical significance as major factors in the decision to build there.
"We just think that it will attract visitors on a national level, a global level, and bring significant benefits to both communities," he said.
The Museum of Science and Industry and the DuSable Museum of African American History are nearby, so community leaders hope the Obama library will help make the area a major tourist attraction.
The park was home to the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, and the Museum of Science and Industry is the last major building remaining from architect Daniel Burnham's famed White City.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel called the library a "once in a lifetime" project.
"We will be bringing more world leaders from around the world, around the United States, to the city of Chicago, and specifically to the South Side," he said. "I want to make sure the entire city of Chicago – and specifically the South Side of Chicago – benefits from a once-in-a-lifetime cultural and educational investment."
The mayor also said "Thank God" that Friends of the Parks has said it won't go to court to challenge the Jackson Park site. The organization sued to block the mayor's plan to build the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art on the lakefront, ultimately leading to filmmaker George Lucas scuttling his Chicago plan to move the project to California.
"I'm glad that they're not going to sue," Emanuel said.
Friends of the Parks has said it opposes building the library in park land. In a statement Wednesday morning, the group said it welcomes the library to Chicago, but "reiterates dismay" at using open space in Jackson Park rather than vacant land nearby.
Unlike with its opposition to the now-scuttled Lucas Museum on the lakefront, the organization said it does not plan to go to court to try to block the Obama Presidential Center, because the Jackson Park site is not legally protected.
"The organization will not sue as it is our understanding that the site that was chosen apparently is not public trust land—unlike the proposed sites for the Lucas Museum," said Friends of the Parks Executive Director Juanita Irizarry. "Friends of the Parks' analysis suggests that there is no realistic legal remedy at this time to protect this public open space from this development."
Friends of the Parks said it plans to work with the Obama Foundation, the city, and the University of Chicago to minimize the impact of the library on Jackson Park, and make sure any open space lost to the project is replaced.
"The design of the Obama Library should maximize the use of available vacant land and underground space, and be truly 'park positive' by adding parkland to the surrounding community," Irizarry said. "Furthermore, any design should upgrade the park's facilities and preserve existing recreational uses by the public."
Last year, the City Council approved a land transfer deal with the Chicago Park District so the library could be built in either Jackson Park or Washington Park. The library building would be built on 3 to 5 acres of land, while the agreement would require the remaining 16 to 18 acres of the site to be open green space. The city also would have to replace the open space given up for the library building by providing an equal amount of green space elsewhere in the city.
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.
