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CHICAGO | Obama Presidential Library
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I thought since UIC is now the first institution to come out and make a play for the future library that the ball will start rolling soon on locations and players for the future library in the near future. Yes, speculation can be silly but also fun. What precise locations do you think are a good fit for the library...........
My top locations 1. Washington Park - Garfield Park Blvd/MLK Dr. - A great potential TOD site right next to Chicago's Washington Park. A very depressed African-American neighborhood that could use a big jolt. A few blocks from the UofChicago which is positive given that I've heard the Libraries and colleges prefer off campus locations. https://maps.google.com/maps?q=city+...4.18,,0,-11.78 2. Downtown location - I think a great location could be the huge lot on the river just south of the NBC tower and east of the Gleacher Center (UofC Booths school building). It would be a great addition to the river and with the Gleacher Center make a cool educational campus right in the heart of downtown. https://maps.google.com/maps?q=418+N...ois+60611&z=16 3. Southworks site - Not as much of a fan as some others. However it would be a great anchor to a neighborhood in south Chicago that would provide a completely blank slate. You could give it a lakeside/park location and it would still be close to UofC and Obamas home. https://maps.google.com/maps?q=8909+...ois+60617&z=16 4. Midway Plaisance - Somewhere along the Midway Plaisance......... Either at Stoney Island/60th https://maps.google.com/maps?q=6027+...ois+60637&z=19 or Cottage Grove Ave/60th https://maps.google.com/maps?q=861+E...ois+60637&z=16 or MLK Drive/60th https://maps.google.com/maps?q=392+E...ois+60637&z=16 |
I think I said it a while ago on Curbed or on here, but the best possible site in my mind is the West side of Washington Park on that enormous lot at Garfield and MLK. There is no better location than that in my mind. Top reasons it should be located there:
1. Close to U of C, this is crucial because of Obama's history there and the fact that it will be a huge boon to U of C's academics (particularly the history department) to have a presidential library (particularly one of such historical importance, see below) on their campus. 2. Close to the Green Line, could even be incorporated with a rebuilt Green Line station to further spur redevelopment. This is obviously important so that the library is accessible to the rest of the city. This is also why it should absolutely NOT go to the Southworks site 3. Follows U of C's pattern of jumping it's campus to the other side of the Midway, except taking a bigger leap all the way across the park. 4. It will obviously spur much needed redevelopment in this area. 5. It is a historically appropriate site for the presidential library of the first African American president who began his career community organizing on the South Side. Even the street name (MLK drive) plays to this historical relevance. This could even potentially be expanded to a "mini museum campus" and have other relevant institutions moved to the area such as an expand DuSable Museum perhaps on the West side of the tracks creating a mecca for African American history. |
I always envisioned it in my mind's eye between Stony Island and the Stony island metra stop along the Midway Plaisance, there's a nice and sizable chunk of land there and it's relatively easy to get to as well. Again, this is assuming that he would want it built on campus there, due to his past association with U of C.
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1. Close to Obama's home. 2. Close to UC. 3. Depressed urban neighborhood. 4. Mass Transit adjacent. 5. Highway accessible. 6. On MLK Drive. 7. On Washington Park. Can anywhere else even hold a candle to this location? |
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Obama’s Library, Advisers’ Dream
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/17/us...=politics&_r=0 WASHINGTON — This spring, a longtime staff member for President Obama, Alyssa Mastromonaco, let a friend in on a secret. Mr. Obama had assigned her to begin planning his post-presidential library and foundation. |
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The city will present one unified bid. The UC and their close environs is the really only place it belongs. Forget NYC or HI. Its going to be in Chicago if we don't rip ourselves apart fighting it over it.
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I agree with Washington Park - hopefully not IN the park but along Garfield to the west. It would establish a gateway into Hyde Park from the Dan Ryan/Red Line and help to turn around a struggling area. It's really a win-win that addresses the biggest site-selection concerns.
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https://www.facebook.com/pages/Natas...59734170748010
Natasha Sasha Obama March 6. PRESIDENT OBAMA TO HAVE TWO PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARIES HONORING HIM. Chicago city officials have held several meetings with officials to work out a plan that will ensure that President Obama gets two presidential libraries honoring him. Officials discussed the possibility of having a presidential library along with an Obama institute in Chicago and a presidential center comprising of a smaller library, a museum and an Obama think tank in Hawaii. This will cost over 800 million dollars according to officials from Hawaii and Chicago. What do you make of this? Mad Dash to Land Home for Obama’s Presidential Library http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics...foot-the-bill/ Abby D. Phillip Mar 20, 2014 4:47pm The search for the home of President Obama’s legacy has officially begun. Today, the Barack Obama Foundation announced it will start fielding preliminary information from potential cities that will bid to host Obama’s presidential library. Among the cities known to be competing in the bidding process that the Foundation has pledged will be “open and accessible,” are Chicago, Honolulu and New York City. The “request for qualifications” is just the first step in a process that will take over a year to complete. Initially, the foundation is seeking logistical, financial and organizational details from prospective bidders, which should include information about access to transportation and community information that would make their site suitable for the library. “Our goal is to build a library of which the whole country, and hopefully the whole world, can be proud,” said Marty Nesbitt, a member of the foundation board and a close friend of Obama’s. ... Obama has entrusted Nesbitt, Chicago businessman Kevin Poorman, and Obama campaign veteran Julianna Smoot to lead the process. Qualifying information is due by July 16 and in the summer the committee will request official proposals from the most competitive applicants. In the meantime... Here are four things you need to know about the jousting for rights to Obama’s presidential library. 1) Bids will come from far and wide Chicago is believed to have the strongest chance of winning out–both the president and the first lady have strong ties to the city. But the city isn’t taking any chances, and it may have some difficulty whittling down their own crowded field of potential host sites. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who was Obama’s former chief of staff, has made it clear that he doesn’t want the city’s educational institutions fighting amongst themselves for the presidential library. .... The competition is also steep among non-Chicago bidders. Columbia University in New York, ... But there’s also sunny Hawaii, which has perhaps the most aesthetically pleasing pitch. The state boasts proudly of being President Obama’s childhood home and has already set aside some prime oceanfront property that could house a presidential facility. 2) Things are heating up Lobbying has been going on for years now, but ... Bids will be formally accepted in May and the decision is expected by early 2015, according to the Barack H. Obama Foundation. 3) Could Obama spread the love? ... 4) Money Talks Earlier this month, Illinois dropped a not-so-subtle $100 million hint that it wants to draw Obama back to Chicago. Illinois House Speaker and Democratic Party Chair Michael Madigan announced a bill that would devote $100 million in state funding toward an Obama library project. The proposal comes, to say the least, a little early, but it is intended to send a clear signal that the state wants to add taxpayer funds to the equation when it comes to funding the library. ... Cities with Obama loyalists with deep pockets could find themselves at a distinct advantage. |
What about along 63rd near University Ave? The library would be positioned directly between the East 63rd-Cottage Grove L terminal approximately four blocks to the west and the 63rd Street Metra station approximately four blocks to the east.
Behold! Michael Sorkin's Proposal for Obama's Presidential Library in Chicago's Woodlawn Neighborhood http://cdn.cstatic.net/images/gridfs...bb006e65/B.jpg |
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Garfield and MLK, best spot, hands down. |
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Sounds like some of the competition might be resigned to the fact that the library is going to end up here and that they are only going to get anything if they cooperate with the Chicago bid...
Aloha, Chicago: Honolulu mayor eyes joint Obama library bid By Paul Merrion March 25, 2014 Competition for the Barack Obama Presidential Library could cast the mayors of Chicago and Honolulu into the roles of rivals and eventual teammates. Aides to Rahm Emanuel and Kirk Caldwell said both Democrats in their first terms as mayor have a “good working relationship” that is “very friendly,” which would help move things along if organizers of presidential library bids in both cities get past the talking stage about working together. A collaboration would make sense in a lot of ways. While Mr. Obama launched his political career in Chicago, the Aloha State is where he was born and raised. Hawaii reportedly plans to make a full bid for the presidential library, which is expected to cost upward of $500 million and generate huge economic spinoffs wherever it's located. But given that Chicago is better able to raise that kind of money, Hawaii also is interested in creating a think tank and conference center where world leaders could discuss global issues. The two men had a substantive meeting in September in Mr. Emanuel's office, when Mr. Caldwell was in town for a meeting of the American Public Transit Association. But recollections about the encounter differ. A spokesman for Mr. Caldwell said they discussed “a wide range of subjects, including a presidential center.” However, Mr. Emanuel has no recollection of that part of the conversation. “They didn't discuss the library,” said a mayoral spokeswoman, unless it was when Honolulu's mayor threw a Rahm-style joke at his host, saying something like “Come see my library.” Their most recent get-together was impromptu, just a brief chance to shake hands and say hello when they ran into each other on the sidelines of a U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Washington in January. But both sides said yesterday that the topic of a presidential library bid didn't come up, contrary to a Jan. 21 report in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Mr. Cardwell, 61, is a lawyer and seasoned politician who served in Hawaii's state House of Representatives from 2002 to 2008. He was House Majority Leader during his last two years in office. In July 2010 he became interim mayor of Honolulu after his predecessor resigned to run for governor. He was defeated for re-election in 2010 but was elected in 2012. It's been previously reported that officials from the University of Chicago, one of the leading contenders to host the complex in Chicago, met with Mr. Caldwell and Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie in Hawaii in January, and a Hawaiian delegation has toured the South Side and met with university officials here... More at Crains: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...ma-library-bid |
Yea, I think Garfield and MLK would be the perfect location too. I know Obama always mentioned he wanted to see a revived Washington Park neighborhood when talking about the Chicago Olympic bid. And the University of Chicago has been buying land around that area to eventually expand the university there. So the university probably owns the land there already.
Obama will only be 55 when he gets out of office, so he will have ~30 years ahead of him to conduct international affairs from Chicago at his Obama Institute. |
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I think its really starting to look like the official library will be on the south side, with a secondary center and additional museum in Hawaii. And I'm totally cool with that. As long as we get the official library, I think it'd be great if HI gets some love. I'd bet Columbia University got embolden by the rumor floating around that Obama was going to live in NY after his presidency. Even if that's the case, symbolically it makes no sense for the library to be in NY.
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http://politics.suntimes.com/article...2082014-1200pm
U. of C. Obama library bid: Alliances with other schools http://politics.suntimes.com/sites/d...?itok=pBRNHvbR This undated file photo released by Obama for America shows Barack Obama teaching at the University of Chicago Law School in Chicago. (AP Photo/Obama for America, File) Mon, 12/08/2014 - 7:43pm Lynn Sweet WASHINGTON — The University of Chicago’s bid for the Obama Presidential library and museum, due Thursday, will include proposals for a variety of collaborations with Chicago area universities and community groups as the school seeks to downplay its elitist image. The U. of Chicago has been in talks with 17 Chicago area schools, including Northwestern University, DePaul University, Loyola University Chicago, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Illinois Institute of Technology, the City Colleges of Chicago and Chicago State University, an unsuccessful library bidder cut in the first round. The list of potential academic alliances included in a statement the University of Chicago released on Monday does not include any pacts with the three other rival finalists: the University of Illinois at Chicago, Columbia University in New York and the University of Hawaii. ... Putting together deals with academic and community partners is an explicit requirement for all four bidders from the Barack Obama Foundation, headquartered in Chicago. Bidders must submit information about “any formal or community-based partnerships with the university that are relevant to the project.” .... The UIC will publically release its bid. The University of Chicago and Columbia will not. The foundation will not be making the bids public. Some of the concepts the U. of C. is advancing: Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism would run a “newsroom” out of the library; DePaul scholars would study youth violence; IIT would ponder digital policies; CSU would focus on African-American males; the Art Institute would explore urban agriculture, and Loyola would help prepare for environmental sustainability careers. ... |
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Man, seeing UIC's proposal I kind of want them to win instead of UChicago. Why isn't UChicago releasing their bid public?
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UIC's proposal has two sites: (1) a community site in North Lawndale at Roosevelt and Kostner (currently vacant, but also Planned Development 941 associated with Central City Studios, LLC in 2004); and (2) an academic site at UIC's vacant parcel (used by students for flag football and other games) at Harrison/Halsted (East Campus). UIC would have the connected with a bus rapid transit line (BRT) on Roosevelt as well as the Blue Line to a reopened Kostner station (which Mayor Emanuel committed to reopening).
UIC is also proposing new parkland by capping the Eisenhower in several locations in North Lawndale and at the East Campus, and a cap over the Dan Ryan near Roosevelt. The video narration is annoying because of its cliché utterances and emotional tone, and you can see the same visuals in the proposal PDF. University of Chicago, on the other hand, has proposed three sites on Chicago Park District property (Jackson Park, Washington Park, and the South Shore Cultural Center) although its possible that the Washington Park proposal is actually on 10 acres of land the university has purchased. |
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WTF, seriously!! Can't the U of C just pick 63rd St between the Metra and the Green Line. Does someone currently own that land?
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^U of C doesn't have eminent domain authority. They can't just pick some part of the city and tell the current landowners to get out.
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I think its time U of C just give them the Gleacher Center. Rework Cityfront Plaza and Pioneer Court and the connection to the river and Michigan...problem solved.
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Since the Bears aren't making use of Soldier Field they should just stick the thing there.
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I think Rahm will probably slam some craniums together and get this figured out, however it's still a little concerning that they didn't have their shit buttoned up - for the U of C bid (UIC is not, and was never a real contender) -prior to submission....
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http://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago-...s-u-c-proposal Chicago Obama library bids in trouble; foundation has 'major concerns' with U. of C. proposal Posted: 12/30/2014, 12:45pm | Lynn Sweet WASHINGTON — The Barack Obama Foundation has major problems with the University of Chicago bid for the Obama presidential library and museum and is uneasy about the bid from the University of Illinois at Chicago, leaving Columbia University in New York the frontrunner for the project. A source close to the foundation told me that the University of Chicago bid is in jeopardy because it does not own — and has no definite path to acquiring at present — any of the South Side sites the school proposed in its Dec. 11 bid. The land is owned by the Chicago Park District. “There are major concerns with the three potential sites in the University of Chicago proposal given the fact that neither the school nor the City of Chicago control the sites,” the source said. The jolt from the foundation, led by Marty Nesbitt, a friend of President Barack Obama, puts pressure on Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s former chief of staff. “The point is the city needs to solve the problem as much as the University of Chicago,” the source said. “Clearly the city has made no secret of its determination to make sure the Obama library is in Chicago. So given that, it is not unrealistic for the foundation to believe that the city can resolve the issues in a timely fashion.” Emanuel adviser David Spielfogel told me... In contrast, Columbia University owns the land it is offering to the foundation, has stable leadership and the mega financial muscle at least the equal to the University of Chicago. ... As I’ve been reporting throughout the year – not based on official University of Chicago sources — that the University of Chicago proposed sites – at the South Shore Cultural Center and in Jackson and Washington Parks – are owned by the Chicago Park District. This means that the University of Chicago strategy to win the library and museum – never officially asking the Chicago Park District for the land and keeping its sites secret until recently in order not to stir up public protest — is on track to backfire and prevent the school from even being in the running. Land acquisition is a crucial component for the foundation. The bid is supposed to contain a “detailed proposed process to obtain control of the site and convey it to the foundation,” according to the bid document – called a “request for proposal” — that the foundation issued on Sept. 15. The University of Chicago bid was submitted without that process in place. ... But because the university has been so secretive, the public has no idea how many acres are involved or the locations of other parcels in the city that can be converted to parks. ... Another factor that may complicate land acquisition for the university is the proposed George Lucas museum on Chicago Park District land south of Soldier Field. City Hall faces a lawsuit filed by Friends of the Park claiming that the city does not have the authority to give away the land. I reported earlier this month that Friends of the Park president Cassandra Francis told me “We do not believe the parks are the University of Chicago’s to offer up to the library.” ... LaVelle told me she would seek public input over giving up park land. But nothing official — meaning on the public record — has yet to come to the board. I’m told the University of Chicago has been aware of the problem for some time – but never picked a site it has control over to include as an option. The school rejected an offer of empty, privately owned parcels on the Southeast Side at 79th and Lake Michigan that the owners were offering for free. ... |
The U of C has been so damn secretive about their bid, I have no idea how to take this news. I thought a front runner site for the library was King/55th, where the University already has significant land holdings. Why put one more sprawling building in Washington Park when there is so much vacant land across the street?
The only way I would accept a building in the park is if it would also come with substantial park improvements, like placing Garfield below-grade so it doesn't chop up the park - this idea was floated as a mitigation for the ill fated Olympic bid. |
I know that the Midwest thread is not all that busy these days but there is a dedicated thread on the BHO library already.
Perhaps someone could merge the discussion there so these comments are not buried in a few days in this general Chicago discussion link. Those that would like to find our impute would never find them here if they wanted our comments and information on the Obama Presidential Library site selection process. http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...=208617&page=2 |
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I can't believe that UoC had the audacity of offering park land for their library proposal. Or the stupidity for not just choosing to utilize their own property holdings at 55th/MLK. In no way whatsoever should this structure get approval to be placed in either Washington Park or Jackson Park.
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^^ ^ This really calls into question U of C's whole strategy in terms of their approach to winning this thing as well. I mean, I still think they'll probably get it in the end, but why give Columbia this kind of opening (by being so secretive, not having the land in question lined-up with their ducks in a row, and having it be on public parkland)?? It doesn't exactly reflect well on them in general .......
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Is there some faulty reporting going on or am I misunderstanding something. I don't know what the MLK/Washington Park site would involve the park district at all. And as far as I remember seeing a map a few weeks ago in the Tribune the university owns nearly everything other then a small parcel from a holdout? I don't know why logistically it would be hard to develop unless if Obama wants some portion of the park across the street. Which would be odd to me.
But then Lynn Sweet in her article claimed that the park district would be involved in the Washington Park site as well. Don't know if she is just uninformed or if there some truth to what she wrote. Or maybe for whatever reasons that site just isn't as attractive to the Obama as the other southside sites involved with the Park District. To me the Washington Park site would seem a slam dunk in terms of logistics, symbolism, and potential but maybe the Obamas have visions of being on the lake or inside a park? |
I think there are definitely some wires crossed here as well. I've now seen two or three articles about this hullabaloo and they all have multiple conflicts with one another.
I think the confusion may be stemming from the fact that some portion of that land at Garfield and MLK across from Washington Park is actually owned by the Park District and not the University. This all may be arising from a relatively minor logistical request from the foundation that was picked up on by local news outlets who saw "Obama library" and "Park district land" and figured "we've got another Lucas museum Friends of the Parks drama on our hands!" Does anyone know if there is a map of random lots owned by the Park district in that area? |
http://chicago.suntimes.com/politics...ntial-library/
Emanuel poised to announce plans for land acquisition for presidential library Posted: 01/02/2015, 08:00pm | Lynn Sweet WASHINGTON — The Friends of the Parks is cranking up a drive to force disclosure of the University of Chicago’s secret proposals to use Chicago Park District lands for Barack Obama’s presidential library and museum — but the push may be moot as Mayor Rahm Emanuel is poised to seize control and announce a public process for land acquisition in the coming days, I’ve learned. With both the U of C and the University of Illinois-Chicago bids for the facility in trouble with the Barack Obama Foundation, City Hall — not the U of C — will now be in charge when it comes to getting rights to the sites, I am told. I’ve also learned that the South Shore Cultural Center is fading as an active U of C option. ... |
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I am still very concerned that they are trying to drop this thing in the meadow. |
DNA info has a new article up: http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20150...ma-library-bid
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The city owns virtually the entire 5300 block of S Prairie (both sides), and the CTA owns almost the entire block their station sits on, both Calumet and Prairie. Then U of C owns the 5400 block of S Calumet and S King Drive. If you expanded that DNAinfo map to the north and west, it would still be a sea of green and red with only a sprinkling of blue private owner holdouts.
There's so much available land here, even without using any of Washington Park. I just don't understand why there is a Park District issue at all. This isn't even like Lucas Museum where by all accounts the benefactor is demanding a parkland site... Obama's legacy is being enmeshed with communities, not set apart from them on a pedestal. Everything can be accommodated in the neighborhood and not in the park, even parking which can be spread out over a handful of lots. This is an architectural question, but can anyone think of a large institutional building that activates its surroundings, instead of pulling back behind lawns, hedges, or parking lots? |
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It's interesting, too, because across the street is the Yale University Art Gallery featuring an addition that was one of Kahn's first major commissions IIRC. I personally love it, but it's pretty stark, and, like many of Yale's buildings, sort of turns its back to the city. Anyway, as far as well-integrated institutions go, it was the first one that came to my mind. Unfortunately, I don't know how popular Chapel was at the time of its construction, by which I mean, I'm not sure if there was already a strong retail presence there or if the Center helped create that demand, so the circumstances are potentially very different. |
Ah, Lou Kahn... that may be one of the most urban art museums I've ever seen. Thanks for the share, I have yet to see any of his buildings in person.
I think the abandonment circumstances of Washington Park are fairly limited to a subset of American cities, so finding a successful precedent is not easy. Surely there must be something in a regenerating industrial area that offers some lessons? Sounds like a job for Rem Koolhaas. |
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