U of C's Obama Library Bid Names Three Possible Sites

President Barack and Michelle Obama seen here in a wedding photo.
President Barack and Michelle Obama seen here in a wedding photo.

While site location tops local conversations regarding the University of Chicago’s (U of C) Barack Obama Presidential Library and Museum proposal, submitted to the Barack Obama Foundation by last Thursday’s submission deadline, collaboration is the buzz word from U of C’s Library team.

photo
Susan Sher, senior advisor to University of Chicago President, Robert Zimmer.

“Collaboration is at the core of our proposal. That means bringing together community groups that are tackling big social issues, and assembling scholars who will add their own creativity and intellectual energy,” said Susan Sher, senior advisor to U of C President, Robert J. Zimmer. “The South Side and the University of Chicago have unique strengths that can help make this a presidential library like no other—deeply engaged in policy and civic leadership, with the global reach of an ambitious research enterprise.”

The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), along with universities in New York and Honolulu are also competing for the right to build the presidential library that promises an economic boon for the area that lands the deal.

Following the initial round earlier this year of about 13 Obama library proposal submissions, The Barack Obama Foundation, which includes President Barack Obama’s longtime friend, Martin Nesbit and his sister Maya Soetoro-Ng, narrowed the field to the four remaining bidders and in Sept. requested specifics by Dec. 11, 2014, on site location and development, plans for community engagement, opportunities for academic collaboration, financial and capital commitments and budgeting, among other criteria.

The possible sites for U of C’s proposal include:

Garfield Blvd. and Martin Luther King Dr. near Washington Park

63rd St. and Stony Island Ave. near Jackson Park

 71st St. and South Shore Dr. near the South Shore Cultural Center

Unlike UIC, U of C has not revealed specifics about the three site options.

U of C is collaborating with numerous universities including Northwestern, DePaul, Loyola, Chicago State, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Illinois Institute of Technology to develop programs involving research, teaching and outreach in a variety of fields, including health care, education, violence prevention, climate change, human rights, urban journalism, college access, early childhood development and international law.

The broad interest in collaboration also includes the City Colleges of Chicago and the 17 Chicago-area institutions that form the America’s Urban Campus consortium.

“After more than 200 meetings with stakeholders at all levels, we are excited and honored to be leading a proposal that is capturing the imagination of people on the South Side and beyond,” said Derek Douglas, vice president for civic engagement at the University of Chicago. “The breadth of academic collaborations shows the immense potential of this library to inspire and be a proving ground for solutions to some of our society’s biggest challenges. We’re starting to see what the library could mean to people around the world.”

These academic collaborations are one facet of the enthusiastic response to the proposal to bring the Obama Presidential Library to the south side. The University of Chicago has also received more than 40 program proposals from non-profit organizations, and hundreds of letters and other expressions of support from individuals on Chicago's South Side and elsewhere.

A study commissioned by the University of Chicago estimated that locating the library in a community near the University would create 1,900 permanent new jobs, bring $220 million in economic impact and attract 800,000 annual visitors to the South Side.

Latest Stories

Latest Podcast

STARR Community Services International, Inc.