Posted on 01/15/2018 4:30:51 PM PST by Liz
The Obama Foundation originally said it would house a presidential library on the property and vowed to have the National Archives oversee the facility because of its placement on public land. But that's no longer the case, and some are balking at the change in plans.
The Obama Foundation released plans last week for the presidential center it plans to build in Chicago's Jackson Park, but behind the scenes, a battle is taking place to keep the former Democratic president from building on that specific lot of land, and there's still a chance that it gets delayed when it seeks federal approval.
What initially started out as a library has morphed into a 20-acre private "center," and some environmentalists and historians are unhappy with the Obama Foundation's plans to swoop in and take over a national historic place.
The Obama Foundation originally said it would house a presidential library on the property and vowed to have the National Archives oversee the facility because of its placement on public land. But that's no longer the case, and some are balking at the change in plans.
[Obama Foundation's presidential center will include sledding hill, Women's Garden, sports center, test kitchen]
"Here’s our bottom line. If the Obama Foundation wishes to construct this center on Chicago’s South Side, that’s fine, but not on parkland held in public trust. The University of Chicago, which orchestrated the winning bid for the project, has plenty of land on the South Side that they could and should use.
Instead, they’ve been adamant since day one that they must have historic public parkland for the purpose," Charles Birnbaum, president and founder of D.C.-based nonprofit, the Cultural Landscape Foundation, told the Washington Examiner in a written statement Saturday. The foundation is not alone.
The group is working alongside a number of others, including Friends of the Parks, Jackson Park Watch, Openlands, National Association for Olmsted Parks, Save the Midway, Landmarks Illinois, and Preservation Chicago, all of whom have raised concerns about the project.
In addition, 200 faculty members from Obama's former employer, the University of Chicago, issued a formal letter last Monday stating its opposition to the presidential center being built at this location.
As a first step, the center's proposal must be approved by Chicago's planning department and the city council. That process is not expected to sit any snags, as Obama's former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is Chicago's mayor. "If past is prologue, municipal officials will rubber-stamp their approvals," Birnbaum said.
But the federal process will be more complicated, and that's where Birnbaum's argument becomes especially relevant.
The Obama Foundation will have to get approval from the Environmental Protection Agency under the National Environmental Policy Act and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. A spokesperson for Birnbaum's group said it is difficult to predict how the Trump administration's EPA will handle it.
The first verification process will determine if the Obama Presidential Center would have "adverse effects" on Jackson Park. The State Historic Preservation Office will ask "official consulting parties" to provide opinions.
--SNIP--
What kind of morons would visit an Obama ....?
Wait, don’t answer that.
Wherever it ends up, I’d like to see a natgas pipeline running through it. Right down the middle of the yoga center.
23 stories high. Each floor probably a tribute to a major treachery against the United States.
It would be no surprise if it faces Mecca.
I want a full environmental impact study on this before they turn out monument area into a $hit hole.
Move the Obama Presidential Library to Kenya.
Did they design that building based on Moochelles big a$$?
The Kenyanesian Usurpation deserves no monument.
Looks better than the double-wide Clinton has his liebrary in.
57 rooms
One for each state
Note to Barry:
No phone and pen, no free pass. You better take notice of that fact and throw the Clintons overboard before you're the target and therefore you're the weak link that has to go. A dead, black, former President as a false martyr is worth more than a live former black President who might spill the beans. Something you should consider when trying to remain in the national or even Chicago limelight.
Doesn’t Chicago have some old Slaughterhouse and tannery sites that could be repurposed?
Then there’s always the Gay Baths that could use Urban Renewal.
Looks like a sewage treatment plant.
Just park an outhouse at the exit of Mt. Rushmore so people could take a dump on Obama after viewing four real presidents. Or maybe a shoe shine stand.
Is that AF1 flying by?
Why “whitey”?
Does the design include a temple with a statue of Obama in it? You know he would want something like that.
“Looks like a sewage treatment plant.”
Exactly! I knew when I read your post that someone had nailed it! And as I understand it, there are no books planned to be there.
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