Obama Presidential Center opens in Chicago’s Jackson Park

Chicago’s South Side welcomed the Obama Presidential Center on Thursday with a celebrity-filled dedication, a public watch party and the opening of a campus designed to honor the nation’s first Black president and the community that helped shape his rise.

The invitation-only ceremony in Jackson Park was scheduled from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. CT, one day before the museum opens to the public Friday. Musical performers included Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Christina Aguilera, John Legend, the Roots, Jennifer Hudson, Bono and The Edge of U2, and Nigerian singer-songwriter Tems, according to CBS News and NPR.

NPR reported that every living president was expected to attend except President Trump. Valerie Jarrett, a longtime Obama White House aide and CEO of the Obama Foundation, said during a June press preview that Trump would be welcome to visit the museum but was not invited to the dedication. “I can tell you that this is a celebration for those who helped get President Obama where he is. And this is a gift to them,” Jarrett said. “And so the people who will be here are the people who’ve been helpful along the way.”

Outside the campus, the Obama Foundation hosted a free ticketed watch party on the Midway Plaisance, the long park connecting Jackson Park and Washington Park. Gates opened at 9 a.m., and CBS News reported that tens of thousands of people were expected to watch the ceremony on a Jumbotron near Dorchester Avenue. The event featured food, local vendors, community organizers, live entertainment and a DJ.

For many residents, the day carried personal meaning. Lana McKinney, who lined up at 6 a.m., said the celebration showed children “democracy in action, civic engagement, and just to celebrate presidents.” Jessica Winesberry, who lives nearby, said she moved to the area when the site was still under construction. “To see what has come within two years now, I love it,” she said. “I just love it all.”

The center, described by NPR as a more-than-19-acre campus, includes an eight-story museum tower, a branch of the Chicago Public Library, an NBA regulation-size basketball court, an auditorium, a media suite, a Wetland Walk, a playground, a Women’s Garden honoring female leaders in Chicago, and fruit and vegetable gardens. Landscape architect Paul Seck told CBS News the gardens were intended not only to provide nutritious food but also to educate the public through programs for children and adults.

Inside the museum tower, visitors hear former President Barack Obama’s voice before they see him. Exhibits begin with American milestones including the Declaration of Independence, the end of slavery and the fight for equal rights, then move into the lives of Barack and Michelle Obama, including their upbringing and their time in the White House. Displays include more than 400 buttons from the 2008 campaign, posters, custom Obama sneakers and swimsuits created by supporters.

CBS News described the project as the opening of the Obama Presidential Center and Library. NPR noted that the center is not a presidential library and will not house Obama’s presidential documents, which are held in the largely digital Barack Obama Presidential Library run by the National Archives. The center’s museum includes some records and artifacts on loan.

The Rev. Al Sharpton said the center’s location was central to its meaning. Obama “came back to the community that nurtured him, the community his wife was from,” Sharpton said, calling the project “an economic blessing to the community” and “a sign of hope to the world.”