Posted on 05/24/2026 5:46:48 AM PDT by Libloather
The Obama Presidential Center’s grand opening next month will bring major road closures, Secret Service security and a massive public watch party to Hyde Park and Woodlawn, foundation officials said Monday.
**SNIP**
While the audience expressed excitement for much of the evening, the center’s impact on free street parking drew the loudest criticisms. Ronnissa Laster, a longtime Woodlawn resident and avowed Obama supporter, said living near the construction site for years had been “terrible” for parking and worried that the opening would make things worse.
Yancy, whose ward encompasses the center, acknowledged the difficulties the center had created, telling the audience that the Chicago Department of Transportation will conduct a parking study to explore permit parking options for the neighborhood. He asked residents to email his office at ward05@cityofchicago.org as problems arise.
The underground campus garage has space for 400 vehicles, 20 EV charging stations and charges a fee for entry. Harris conceded it wasn’t enough to accommodate the expected 700,000 annual visitors but said the center has been encouraging people to take rideshares or public transit.
To facilitate that, Harris said the foundation was working with Metra, Pace and the Chicago Transit Authority to increase service to the area, including by extending the No. 10 bus, which runs from the Gold Coast to the Museum of Science and Industry, to reach the center on a permanent basis.
Strautmanis asked the audience to think of the unprecedented number of tourists to the area as a positive and a potential opportunity.
“We’re going to bring millions of people into this neighborhood and community and shine a spotlight on this beautiful neighborhood,” he said. “And the spotlight should move beyond the four corners of our campus and shine on everything that you can see from the top of the museum.”
(Excerpt) Read more at hpherald.com ...
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
And Muzzies...Betcha...
It’s already full of yutes…it’s IN the ‘hood…
It’s already full of yutes…it’s IN the ‘hood…
I thought it was “MAGA Country” according to Juicy Smolay.
This expensive monstrosity really looks like a Nazi era Flak Tower!
The Nazi analogy is appropriate in that Barakeh Hussein Obama believes in Reich (ooops), I mean legacy will last a thousand years just like, perhaps one of his mentors with a moustache.
He supported the Muslim Brotherhood who su[ported the Mufti of Jerusalem during WWII. His strong belief mirrors that of the Muslims who supported, encouraged and carried out the massacre of Jews and others.
Somehow it all seems so consistent, Flak tower, Islam, thousand year legacy without any care about who he crushed along the way to immortality.
Like the Nazis former Pres. Obama, you’re legacy will fade quickly and eventually this place of meditative Hubris will eventually be neglected and unused.
I think the Kenyan Mulatto’s building looks like a Klingon maximum security prison.
That’s what I had heard , that they built this place in a bad neighborhood.
Were they hoping for economic revitalization by having a tourist attraction in a bad area?
Just wait a few days. No one interested in visiting the “Obama Library.”
Only visitors will be school children bused in by the schools.
Only visitors will be school children bused in by the schools.
Paid for by your tax dollars.
Yup! The first of four corner guard towers for the internment camp.
Anyone not Marxist enough, will be very happy there. (or be put to death)
Yes, and there are already lesson plans for teachers about Obama and all the wonderful things he did for this country - like Obamacare.
Obama is a messiah in the education system.
“Mmmmmm Mmmmmmm Mmmmmm....”
The gun tower from one of the star trek movies
Sweet naive Ronnissa hasn’t figured out that Obama doesn’t care about her or anybody else.
The flak tower will be fully operational.
Looks like something out of 1950’s Russia.
And when Obama dies, he’ll be embalmed like Lenin.
Or Nazi Germany.
Sooo...is he opening it on July 4th, Independence Day? Seems like something he would plan.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.