By Shernay Williams

(WIB) – The Obama Foundation is giving the public a virtual preview of the Barack Obama Presidential Center, a 19-acre, community-rooted campus slated to open on Chicago’s South Side in spring 2026.

Located in the Jackson Park neighborhood, the space will feature a wide range of facilities and green space, including a fruit and vegetable garden, a podcast studio, a Chicago Public Library branch, and an open field — called the Great Lawn — for outdoor movies and sledding.

A New Kind of Presidential Library

Unlike other presidential libraries, the Obama Presidential Center will be managed by the private Obama Foundation — not the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The NARA will, however, house and loan the former president’s fully digitized records to the center for exhibits.

In a virtual information session in early October, Obama Foundation leaders shared visual renderings and mockups detailing what to expect at the center, which broke ground in 2021. 

Many of the center’s facilities will be named after prominent individuals who foundation leaders say helped shape President and Mrs. Obama’s lives. They include the John Lewis Plaza — a public space that will host outdoor performances, markets, and fairs — and the Hadiya Pendleton Atrium, which honors the Chicago teen killed by gun violence in 2013 shortly after performing with her majorette squad at President Obama’s second inauguration.

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One of the center’s most unique features is the museum building design. Signifying the power of collective action, it is shaped as if four hands are coming together. The building’s exterior features words from President Obama’s speech marking the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery marches. Inside, visitors will find a mix of permanent and rotating exhibits highlighting major events and policies from the Obama presidency.

The space will also serve as headquarters for several of the Obama Foundation’s leadership and scholarship programs.

Chicago residents gave feedback on the building’s construction, requesting more green space, underground parking, and accessibility via public transit.

The next public information session about the Obama Presidential Center is scheduled for Nov. 13.