Story at a glance:
- Former President Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama are constructing a $500 million Presidential Center in Chicago.
- Critics say that the center will destroy a historic park and gentrify the area.
- Obama says he’s “absolutely confident” the project will give back to the community.
Former President Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama are constructing a $500 million Presidential Center in Chicago. And while the former president says he’s “absolutely confident” the project will give back to the community, critics say that the center will destroy a historic park and gentrify the area.
Those who object to the project have been trying to stop the construction for at least five years, challenging the center in court and even asking the Supreme Court to step in.
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Naysayers argue that the construction will destroy parts of the historic Jackson Park, even though the center uses up 19 acres of the 540-acre park, which is, at most, occupying less than 4 percent of the park’s land.
The Obamas broke ground on the center Tuesday in Chicago. Ahead of the ceremony, they spoke to ABC and defended the work and legacy behind the center.
“The overwhelming majority of the community has been not just OK with it, but are hugely enthusiastic about it,” Obama said in an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America.
“The truth is, any time you do a big project, unless you’re in the middle of a field somewhere, you know, and it’s on private property, there’s always going to be some people who say, ‘Well, but we don’t want change. We’re worried about it. We don’t know how it’s going to turn out,’” Obama said.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is siding with Obama, calling the Presidential Center a “transformative investment” of the presidential center, according to the Chicago Tribune.
For the Obamas — the former president, who started out as a community organizer on Chicago’s South Side, and the former first lady, who grew up in the neighborhood — the construction of the Presidential Center is supposed to inspire a generation and give back to the community as a legacy project.
“The young person who’s growing up across the street or down the block or a few miles away, now suddenly has a place where concerts and speeches and debates and forums are taking place that they can access,” Obama told the outlet.
“If they want to bring about change in their neighborhoods, they’ve got resources and people who can teach them how to do that effectively. And they’re going to be able to see themselves as part of that change in a way that, so often, they don’t feel right now.”
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