After 10 years and nearly $1 billion in total project costs, the Barack Obama Presidential Center is finally nearing completion and has been opened for limited public tours. The facility is set to officially go into operation in the spring of 2026, however, at least $230 million in construction costs still remain and the Obama Foundation simply doesn’t have it. Total reserve funds are $116 million and this does not take into account the cost of paying staff to maintain the center.
Not only is the future of the site in limbo, the building is also being called “the tomb” by many locals in the South Side of Chicago where it is located. Though the media frequently refers to the design as “warm and inviting”, it looks more like a concrete bunker nightmare that one might find in Soviet era Russia.
The center’s notably harsh aesthetics are oddly similar to many pieces of architecture constructed in Russia during the height of communism using methods that seem to suck the life out of the surrounding environment. One cannot help but notice the dystopian similarities. Some might ague that buildings can’t really be “political”, but these are people that don’t understand architecture.
Residents in the area reportedly describe the building as a “totalitarian command center dropped straight out of 1984.” Obama’s adoring fans, though, say that the building is a beautiful symbol and tribute to the accomplishments of the Black American community. They also claim that the center will be an “economic catalyst” for the neighborhood, which is suffering from fiscal decline.
Ironically, the site may indeed revamp the area, but in the process it is driving up property costs to the point that homes are unaffordable for current lower income residents.
Alderwoman Jeanette Taylor of Ward 20, which is near where the center is being built, told the Daily Mail last month she has fought against some aspects of the building out of concern for her constituents. Families will be displaced because of higher rents, the tabloid quoted her as saying.
“Every time large development comes to communities, they displace the very people they say they want to improve it for,” Taylor said. Homes worth $400,000, which the lawmaker argues are unaffordable for South Side denizens, are popping up around the area. Rents are also climbing, with some living in the South Side reporting that two bedroom apartments jumped from $800 per month to over $1800 per month.
In May of this year, President Donald Trump criticized the project as a “disaster” that has come in many millions over budget. Trump also warned about the DEI methods used to recruit construction contractors.
Obama did proudly proclaim that his library would be built with DEI initiatives and diverse contractors in mind (mostly black contractors). Now his foundation is running out of funds. Costs have ballooned due to terrible planning as well as lawsuits over “racial discrimination”. Black companies argue that they have been subjected to unfair scrutiny in their building methods, while the New York engineering firm in charge of the library argues that the builders exhibit low experience and poor performance.
Get woke, go broke.
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