THE OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER

The Obama Presidential Center represents a historic opportunity to build a world-class museum and public gathering space that celebrates our nation’s first African American President and First Lady on the South Side of Chicago.

After the completion of a careful federal regulatory review process, we’re thrilled to announce that we plan to break ground on the Obama Presidential Center in 2021! Watch a special message from President Obama:

https://youtu.be/FUzCITG5v4M

Here on Chicago’s South Side, the Obama Presidential Center will feature a world-class museum that chronicles President and Mrs. Obama’s leadership while calling hundreds of thousands of visitors to service. It will be a place to reflect and grow, connect and create; to tap into your own sense of purpose and discover the change you want to make in the world. It will be a place to honor history while inspiring young people to write chapters of their own.

It will also provide our neighbors with a gathering space for celebrations, enriching its site in Jackson Park with new gardens for them to enjoy, an imaginative new playground for their children to explore, and scenic paths for early morning jogs or afternoon strolls.

And it will do all that while creating jobs, driving economic opportunity, and unlocking the potential that has always existed on the South Side. By tapping into the boundless talent of neighborhoods throughout Chicago, it will become a campus for the community, built in partnership with the community.

The Obama Presidential Center will connect the economy of the South Side of Chicago with the rest of the city, creating new jobs and opportunities. It will breathe new life into a park that has long been protected and loved, but underused. And it will uphold our commitment to this vibrant community.

In 2008, our neighbors on the South Side of Chicago provided the base of support for a campaign that inspired the world and launched President and Mrs. Obama to the White House. The Obama Presidential Center is an opportunity to make history once again. Together, we can bring hope home.

THE MUSEUM

AN EMBODIMENT OF HOPE

When President Obama honored the brave marchers who crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, he delivered a speech that not only captured his idea of what America should be, but one that called on each generation to take up the baton and build on the legacies of those who came before. A portion of that meaningful speech will appear on the exterior of the Obama Presidential Center on the South Side of Chicago. Watch the video to see the words that were selected:

https://youtu.be/XBTFbK8bMJQ

The Museum building will be a new landmark for the South Side, welcoming visitors to Jackson Park and marking the Center as an historic civic destination. The Museum building’s design embodies the idea of ascension—of a movement upward from the grassroots. Its form is inspired by the idea of four hands coming together; a recognition that many hands shape a place.

At the top of the Museum sits the Sky Room, a space that will offer visitors a chance to reflect, with extraordinary panoramic views of Lake Michigan to the East, the skyscrapers of downtown Chicago to the North, and the South Side of Chicago to the West and South.

Inside, exhibits will explore the fullness of the American story—from the promise of our founding documents to the movements that challenged us to live up to them. The Museum exhibits will tell the story of the volunteers who powered the campaign toward history, and will examine the eight years of progress, setback, and hope that followed.

We are currently seeking artifacts for potential display at the Museum. If you have an artifact you’d like to submit for consideration, you can learn more here.

THE FORUM AND PLAZA

RESOURCES TO SERVE THE SOUTH SIDE