Posted on 02/19/2025 2:37:27 AM PST by Libloather
Construction of former President Barack Obama's long-awaited library and museum in Chicago began with ambitious plans for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) but is now plagued by huge cost overruns, delays and a $40.75-million, racially charged lawsuit filed by a minority contractor.
From the outset, the endeavor touted DEI as a key part of enshrining Obama's legacy at the 19.3-acre site, where costs have ballooned from an initial $350 million to $830 million in 2021 based on its previous annual reports, with no publicly available figures available for updated projected costs. The project set out "ambitious goals" for certain construction diversity quotas, with its contracts to be allocated to "diverse suppliers," 35% of which were required to be minority-based enterprises (MBEs).
"With these aggressive goals, the foundation is hoping to set a new precedent for diversity and inclusion in major construction projects in Chicago and beyond," the Obama Foundation wrote in a 2017 press release.
The importance of DEI was cited on several occasions in an explosive lawsuit filed last month by Robert McGee, the Black co-owner of II in One Construction. The firm is a minority-owned business subcontractor that provided concrete and rebar services for the center.
It is not clear what role DEI quotas played in the hiring of II In One as a subcontractor. II In One was one of three firms that made up a joint venture called Concrete Collective. The other firms included another minority firm called Trice Construction Company along with W.E. O’Neil. Together they formed a 51% minority-led joint-venture team.
McGee alleged that he and his firm were racially discriminated against by Thornton Tomasetti, a New York-based company that oversees structural engineering and design services.
In the lawsuit, McGee claims that Thornton Tomasetti changed standards and imposed new rules around rebar spacing...
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
That is the ugliest building I have ever seen.I wonder what it will look like when it’s completed.
Well, I hope it’s all downhill from here.
I was going to say that exact same thing. It looks like one of the flak (anti-aircraft ) towers the Nazis built during WW2.
It sure looks like the Obama architect stole his plans from some historical archive.
🤔
A typical flak tower:
Ugly architecture is hallmark of Marxism, eh.
It will look like his wife.
He’s building his private tower of Babel?
IF Obama deserves a library at all (which he does not) it should be built with two separate buildings. One in Damascus, Syria and one in Benghazi, Libya. They should consist of mud shacks, with a special room for his Holy Book, a copy of the Koran at each location. That is all. He deserves nothing at all.
Obama has no one but himself to blame for his library fiasco.
One of my proudest moments as a city councilman was voting to demolish a Brutalist architecture theater that would have been insanely expensive to renovate and maintain. And still would have had significant layout and location shortcomings. And would have still been ugly (see Brutalist architecture).
I suggest that II in one construction go hire their own Certified/Licensed DEI Structural Engineer and challenge the experience of a firm whose partner is TOMASETTI. Good luck with that!!!
On the surface, and in personal experience, a name like Tomasetti would “suggest” they know a bit more about concrete than a few DEI grunt contractors. Oh nooose, I’m being racist. Yes, it looks like a Nazi Flak Tower
Who did the inspections? If the rebar installation was wrong, why did they allow concrete to be poured?
You don’t allow subcontractors to run willy nilly on the project.
It is awful. I looked at Carter reagan and Clinton libraries. They are vertical. Maybe limited space created the need for the tower.
He should have gone with Hawaii. He could have a beautiful library setting
Obama’s library, which is being financed by his billion dollar foundation, began with lofty DEI goals, but now some say it may never be built. Construction of ex-President Obama’s “Presidential Center” and museum in a coveted location in his hometown of Chicago began with ambitious plans for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). It is now plagued by huge cost overruns, delays, a $40 million racially charged lawsuit filed by a minority contractor and questions about its financing. Read More at link
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Official portrait-----Biden US Treasury hire, Nigerian Wally Adeyemo .
Biden Treasury hire, Nigerian Wally Adeyemo abruptly quit Treasury when Trump came in. Ademeyo refused to handover documents chronicling his Treasury activities wrt $4.7 trillion in unidentified Treasury payments.
Earlier, the Nigerian headed “Obama’s Foundation” which soon made Obama “a billionaire.”
Is this why Obama said he won’t discuss his Foundation finances?
“(see Brutalist architecture).”
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It figures the FBI headquarters is a Brutalist design. Along with Boston City Hall, too. Ugly art.
What Is Brutalist Architecture, and Why Is It So Controversial?
By Alex Greenberger
January 14, 2025
https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/what-is-brutalism-brutalist-architecture-art-1234730107/
Excerpt:
“What was the point of Brutalist architecture?
For many designers involved in the movement, Brutalist architecture was not meant as a provocation. Quite the opposite—the style was meant to hold nothing back from the public, showing laypeople that modernist architecture was in fact compatible with daily life. In that way, Brutalism aspired to bring the world toward a utopian ideal, a tendency that became particularly obvious as the style traveled beyond Western Europe.
In the former Yugoslavia, for example, Brutalist architects created residential blocks and hotels, among other structures, with an eye toward bringing society onto equal ground. While many hotels across Europe laid bare divisions, with ritzier ones meant for vacationing members of the elite, the Brutalist hotels in Yugoslavia were intended for just about everyone, regardless of ethnicity or class. The sameness of the facades was a reflection of the movement’s aspirations of egalitarianism.”
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Egalitarianism...i.e. Communism/Socialism/Marxism, etc.
Obama library looks like a giant outhouse.
It would be appropriate if they put a stack of homosexual books and magazines next to the toilet paper roll.
The New York Stonewall Inn has nothing on this Obama dump.
Biden Treasury hire, Nigerian Wally Adeyemo, abruptly quit Treasury when Trump came in. Ademeyo refused to handover documents chronicling his Treasury activities wrt $4.7 trillion in unidentified Treasury payments.
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