Obama Presidential Center To Open in Jackson Park Summer 2026

The Obama Presidential Center, located in Jackson Park, is set to open in 2026.

The campus will contain four buildings including a garden, museum, auditorium, branch of the Chicago Public Library and more, according to their website. The Obama Foundation announced July 29, 2016, Jackson Park would be the location for the center.

The 226 foot tall building includes Obama’s 2015 speech from the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery marches starting with “You are America,” according to the center’s website.

Monthly construction updates are posted on their website. The October 2025 update said there are new street lights, work on the library, a sports net installed in the Main Court, the “Yes We Can” exhibit construction underway and more, according to their website.

Seventeen U.S. presidents have presidential centers, with Trump and Biden’s being online. There are sixteen libraries which are overseen by the Office of Presidential Libraries, according to the National Archives. They additionally can host archives and museums, like the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Massachusetts.

Loyola Graduate program director and associate professor of sociology, former director of Urban Studies program Marilyn Krogh said someone came to speak to her urban sociology class when they were still deciding on the location.

Krogh said she was excited Chicago was chosen as the location as other places like Hawaii were considered.

The Obama Center explained its important connections to Chicago in a press release, which said Chicago is the location of one of Obama’s first jobs and near where Michelle Obama grew up, according to their website.

“I was thrilled to have the Obama Center here in Chicago and on the South Side,” Krogh said.

Construction began in 2021, according to the City of Chicago.

“It’s a very important resource,” Krogh said. “I hope it inspires people to understand Obama’s presidency and legacy yet potential for the future.”

When the site was announced in 2016, community members advocated for a Community Benefits Agreement.

This Community Benefits Agreement called for the protection of people living in the area worried about their jobs and housing, according to their website. The Center is located in the Woodlawn neighborhood in Jackson Park.

In September 2020, Chicago’s City Council passed the Woodlawn Housing Preservation Ordinance from the Department of Housing and then Mayor Lori Lightfoot, according to the website.

The ordinance said it has a few main goals — to help prevent displacement, to promote inclusive and affordable housing, ensure good quality housing and support economic development.

Second-year nursing student Rickie Roberts said she’s excited to visit the Center and thinks the center is especially important right now.

“I think it’s important to have access to things like that, and to see that kids on the South Side can see that they can be president one day too — if they really want to,” Roberts said.

Third-year psychology major Veronica Diaz said she’s excited to see the Center.

“I feel like the kids and teenagers need places for them to see themselves,” Diaz said. “Especially because South Side has a big Black community and seeing the only Black person that we’ve had as kind of an example  —  it would be nice.”

The Library Reading Garden will feature “Book Bird,” a sculpture by Richard Hunt, according to their website. A maquette of this sculpture was featured in Loyola University Museum of Art’s recent exhibition, according to the Richard Hunt Legacy Foundation’s website.