Obama chooses historic Jackson Park as library site

Obama chooses historic Jackson Park as library site

ron paul, voting rights, freedom of the press, freedom of speech, georgia, valdosta, divided by zero

hilarious clips, hilarious videos, funny clips, funny jokes, stand up videos, comedy videos, funny video, comedian, funny, comedy, comedy central comedians, comedians, stand up comedy, key & peele full episodes, key & peele episodes, keey & peele, key and peele, keegan michael key, jordan peele, key & peele, comedy sketches, slave auction, slavery, 2007, utah, city, park, obama, golf, real estate, villa padierna, quality3, high, super, part, scene, beach, omaha, ryan, private

esident Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama have selected historic Jackson Park, just east of the University of Chicago, as the site for the Obama Presidential Center, a source confirmed Wednesday. A formal announcement is expected next week.

Martin Nesbitt, chairman of the Obama Foundation, declined to confirm or deny that the library would go to Jackson Park. He said his staff was in the process of scheduling a day to make the announcement, but would not say if it was imminent.

In choosing Jackson Park over Washington Park, the other finalist site, the Obamas have opted for the less challenging of the two options. Both gracious South Side parks were designed by legendary 19th century landscape designers Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, but the Jackson Park site is cloaked in a more powerful collection of assets.

Located near the Museum of Science and Industry, the lakefront and the eastern edge of the University of Chicago campus, the site allows for the creation of a museum campus in the heart of the park, accented by an existing lagoon, lush woods and greenery. The winding 543-acre park is an oasis on the South Side. The center would be a short hop to either Lake Shore Drive or to two Metra train stations, strong pulls for visitors.

Jackson Park's western edge along Stony Island Avenue connects with Woodlawn, an impoverished African-American neighborhood but one that is beginning to gentrify. And the Hyde Park neighborhood, just north of Woodlawn and surrounding the university, already is booming.

All those attributes gave the location a leg up on the long-neglected Washington Park neighborhood.

Still, the challenge of revitalizing poor African-American neighborhoods can be overwhelming and often ends in failure — presenting the Obamas with an enormous task as they seek to position the center as a catalyst for neighborhood revitalization.

The hurdles would have been higher in the neighborhood near Washington Park, where one-third of the land is vacant. Decades ago the area was central to Chicago's Black Belt, a robust cluster of neighborhoods that drew African-Americans from the South during the Great Migration. During the past half-century the population has plummeted, and nearly half the remaining residents live in poverty in an area plagued by crime.

Washington Park had been the centerpiece of the city's 2016 Olympic bid — the site for a massive temporary stadium and swimming venue — and many residents believed that endeavor would help turn around their impoverished neighborhood just west of the park. The bid failed in 2009, and now residents of this struggling area must live with a second major disappointment.

The Obama Presidential Center, estimated to cost at least $500 million, will include a library housing the presidential archives, a museum devoted to Obama's eight-year tenure and the headquarters of the Obama Foundation, the organization that will fund the design, construction and planning of the center. The building will be Chicago's first presidential library and one of the highest-profile architectural projects in the city's pipeline.

Renowned architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien were chosen in June to lead the design of the library, aided by Chicago-based Interactive Design Architects. Williams and Tsien designed the University of Chicago's Logan Center for the Arts, which drew praise when it opened in 2012. Tsien will be the first woman to co-design a U.S. presidential library.

The library represents the first time a U.S. president has opted to locate his archives and museum in a poor neighborhood away from a city center. The project could define Obama's post-presidential legacy, observers have said.

Woodlawn, the neighborhood west of the park that has seen decades of unfulfilled promises for redevelopment, has tracts available for nearby projects..

Neighborhood activists are putting the finishing touches on an extensive revitalization plan they hope will bring affordable housing, public transit improvements, retail development and a manufacturing facility to the community. The effort is led by the Arthur M. Brazier Foundation, named for the late pastor of the Apostolic Church of God. The church is a major neighborhood anchor.