A rendering of a planned inclusive playground to be built at the east end of Midway Plaisance in Hyde Park. (Chicago Park District)
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Though lauded as “groundbreaking” by the Park District, the playground has met with significant opposition from neighbors, who have faulted the choice of the Plaisance's east end as too dangerous for a play space.

A rendering of the Obama Presidential Center’s athletic and conference center, designed by Moody Nolan. (Credit: Obama Foundation)

The Obama Presidential Center, which broke ground in September 2021, had been slated to open in October 2025.

The latest rendering of the Obama Presidential Center tower. (Courtesy of Obama Foundation)
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Construction firm Lakeside Alliance is offering a $100,000 reward to help find whoever committed the “act of hate.”

Design rendering of the Obama Presidential Center. Plaza in foreground. (Courtesy of The Obama Foundation)

As part of the $100 million gift to the Obama Foundation, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has asked for the plaza at the Obama Presidential Center to be named the John Lewis Plaza.

Design rendering of the Obama Presidential Center. (Courtesy of The Obama Foundation)

Nearly five years after former President Barack Obama picked Jackson Park for his presidential library, Chicago and Illinois leaders celebrated as work finally began to transform the historic South Side park. A formal groundbreaking is expected in the fall.

A lawsuit to block construction of the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park continues to wind its way through the courts. (Courtesy of The Obama Foundation)
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After hearing oral arguments last week, appeals court judges are questioning whether a lawsuit against the construction of the Obama Presidential Center has any standing in federal court.

A rendering shows the north-facing view of the public plaza and Museum building, as viewed from the roof of the Chicago Public Library building. (Credit: The Obama Foundation)

At the Obama Foundation Summit on Tuesday, Barack and Michelle Obama spoke about, among other things, the future of the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park. Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin weighs in on the new design.

Plaintiffs appear before U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey on Tuesday, June 11, 2019 to discuss a suit aiming to halt construction of the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park. (Courtroom sketch by Tom Gianni)

Plans to build Barack Obama’s $500 million presidential center on Chicago’s lakefront can move forward, a federal judge said Tuesday in dismissing an advocacy group’s lawsuit objecting to the use of historic public parkland.

Former President Barack Obama on Wednesday thanked Chicago aldermen for their approval of a 99-year land agreement to allow his presidential center to make its home in Jackson Park. But other hurdles remain.

Some community groups are speaking out after construction equipment was seen removing trees and digging up the field on the southern end of Jackson Park. 

Opponents and allies alike came together for a big vote Thursday on the future of the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park.

Obama Presidential Center rendering (Image by DBOX)

A group called Protect Our Parks says developers of the Obama Presidential Center have pulled a “bait and switch.” Could they slow the project down?

The Obama Foundation has given in to criticism, making a change to its plans. The decision comes as the Obama Presidential Center gained new critics: more than 100 University of Chicago faculty members.

Former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama are back home in Chicago to launch the inaugural Obama Foundation Summit. 

The University of Chicago (Credit: Tom Rossiter)

President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama announced Thursday that the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago will be designed by renowned architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien.  

The Barack Obama Foundation last week announced the seven finalists chosen to submit designs for the Obama Presidential Center. One of the architects, David Adjaye, is the subject of a solo exhibition at the Art Institute’s modern wing that runs through Jan. 3.