Fascinating map, thanks Mr. D.... If I didn't know better, I'd think you were making a case for placing the BHOL in Jackson Park...

I also think the projected economic impact is way overblown, outside of the construction windfall. Look at any other presidential library...is it on the shortlist of things you just have to see when visiting a city?

Happy King Holiday!

I read this elsewhere and thought it was good information... posted by "Pack" over on Curbed:

The detractors fail to point out that a considerable part of the space needed for the park is now covered with concrete and is adjacent to the Green Line of the CTA. Any reasonable person who visits the site would quickly conclude that at least that area is hardly park-like by any stretch of the imagination. Washington Park totals more than 366 acres. The museum would use 20 of those acres leaving more than 346 acres. The museum would enhance the park and the broader community. As far as the opponents of the Lucas Museum, the proposed area is currently an asphalt parking lot.


Below is a link to more good news as well... further evidence that minimal park space will need to be used:

http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20150...-obama-library


This is going to happen guys:notacrook:
The only way that it won't is if the Obama's select a different city.

That totally depends on the city and president in question.

If you're visiting Springfield, IL, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum is probably on your shortlist of things to do there.

If you're visiting Atlanta, GA, the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library & Museum is probably not on your shortlist of things to do there.


In the case of Chicago and Obama, I think an Obama presidential library & museum here has the potential to be a somewhat big deal considering the historic nature of his presidency by virtue of his skin color. would it be a top 5 tourist attraction in the city? no, probably not. but maybe a top 10 or top 15 tourist attraction, perhaps.

Looks pretty park-like to me:

http://i.imgur.com/DPQMOcO.jpg

local.live.com

Just to be clear, how "park-like" it appears is irrelevant to Mr Downtown.

It's certainly green with trees and no asphalt for parking only for paths, so yeah, it's parklike.

Why don't they just build the Obama Library over those ugly railroad tracks at the Southwest corner of Grant Park? Then no "parkland" would be used and it kills 2 birds with one stone.

^No host institution chose to propose that site, which would be fairly expensive and do very little to revitalize the South or West Sides.

I happen to to totally agree with this entire post.

One cannot vist Springfield without at least once visiting the Lincoln library as I did on several occasions taking my kids there too.


I imagin lots of many new visitors checking out the Obama libary with their kids too ESP black families due to the significance of it all


But not just blacks but everyone from the left that voted for him twice like I did


This will be a boon to the city no doubt

I would figure my family though local will visit it many times.


And I hope these other said families will also visit the museum of science and industry too in addition to the normal museums like the shed and the alder


This is more important than the billion dollar gift from Lucas but hopefully we get both

Aww, poor Carter. :(

new tribune poll of city residents:


approve of using parkland for obama library: 62%

opposed to using parkland for obama library: 29%

no opinion: 9%

^Link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...ry.html#page=1

I wonder which park they will put the library on. Or is it going to be placed on both sites in the south side?

So Michelle Obama will apparently pick the location of the library and she is currently favoring the NYC/Columbia University location:

http://wgntv.com/2015/02/05/report-m...rary-location/

^ Well, then, that's that...

Oh well

^ No.

This is a case of absolute journalistic malpractice. I absolutely called it the other day when these reports we're first surfacing.

This is all based on Lynn Sweet's reporting that we all heard about a few weeks ago, with one recent source of Sneed's hinting at Mrs. Obama favoring Columbia (along with other sources of hers that did not support this).

This has resulted in the last few days of several instances of sound-bite reporting from several local media outlets that has made it seem like it's based on much more than it actually is and is almost finalized. My sense is that nothing could be further from the truth and that it is really, really amateurish journalism at work here.......

Quaxelrod is calling the race for Chicago:

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefi...-obama-library

Op/Ed
 

..