Obama Presidential Center to open in June, former president says

Following a decade of planning, construction and delays, the Obama Presidential Center’s opening has been narrowed to a specific month next year — but not yet an exact date, former President Barack Obama said Monday.

“We’re going to open in June so that y’all don’t have to bring your coats up,” Obama said in a conversation during a visit to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas.

The presidential center in Jackson Park was announced in 2015 and originally slated to open in 2021, but lawsuits and federal reviews suspended construction at times. Construction didn’t actually begin until 2021. The center’s opening had recently been set for sometime in spring 2026.

The $800 million project — the most expensive presidential center in U.S. history — is centered around a 225-foot museum tower and will consist of an auditorium, a Chicago Public Library branch, gardens, parkland and an athletic facility — all spanning 20 acres in historic Jackson Park.

“We want to create a campus, a place where the public gathers for a range of things that puts them face to face with each other and get them to meet and be in dialogue and conversation and exposed to new ideas with each other,” Obama said.

Construction of the presidential center has faced several controversies, most notably the Obama Foundation’s decision to build it in National Register-listed Jackson Park, which led to lawsuits that tried to block the center from being built. A judge later tossed the legal challenges.

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