Sept 2021----Obamas break ground for "Presidential Center."
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 ...
Sept 2021----Obamas break ground for "Presidential Center."
The true goal of brutalism is to crush the human spirit and dull the imagination such that people can no longer ponder a better, more beautiful. The expiration of aspiration.
I would seriously like to know what would fill this “library”.
perhaps the building inspector was also a DEI hire
Intentional.
He wanted a piece of 💩 that would forever mar our country - an eyesore costing billions for perpetuity just to stick it to the country he despises.
“ long-awaited library”
Snort. The only reason we are waiting for it to open is to see his real birth certificate and how many times he went to “Man’s Country.”
That’s a good understanding of it.
The more appropriate O'Bama Library architecture
Exactly. Marxist brutalism.
BTTT
Just why would there be a “library” for a fraud who never wrote anything in his worthless life?
An ugly piece of shit, just like the person it eulogizes.
The symbolism of the cracked foundation is perfect.
—”He’s building his private tower of Babel?”
True in more ways than one.
The local concrete guy does not speak or understand the language of the general contractor and cannot read the specs or comprehend the drawings.
HOW IN HELL DOES A SUB GET 40MM UNDERWATER???
In the real world he would stop working, the project stopped
until the issue is resolved or he is replaced.
This jamoke worked on the mockup and did not say a word, no RFI, no AVO, nothing.
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linking a Treasury payment to a budget line item (a standard financial process).
In the Biden Federal Government, the TAS field was optional for ~$4.7 Trillion in payments and was often left blank, making traceability almost impossible. As of Saturday, Trump made this a required field, increasing taxpayers’ insight into where their money is actually going.
Agreed.
As an architect of 43 years experience, I have had the
pleasure of working with Thornton-Tomasetti on a couple of
projects. Their competence world-class. If they are documenting
exposed rebar and cracked foundations, this lies directly at the feet
of the concrete sub-contractor. It looks like the grift
machine was fully charged when this project was bid.
He should have gotten a card table in front of the DC Black History museum and not a dime more.
What? Why isn't this BRAKING NEWS?
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