The Obama Presidential Center opens tomorrow: Who funded the project and how much did it cost?

It’s been nearly five years since the Obama Foundation broke ground on the presidential campus in in Chicago’s Jackson Park on the southside of the city. A grand opening event to welcome the public will take place to officially inaugurate the Obama Presidential Center on Friday, June 19 starting at 11 am.

There will be a dozen artists and musicians present, filling the ceremony with “music, performances, and hope,” said Valerie Jarrett, CEO of The Obama Foundation, adding, the event “will reflect a spirit of inspiration and joy.” All the tickets to the museum are currently sold out for the opening weekend, but the public is free to visit the rest of the campus.

What does the Obama Presidential Center consist of?

The nearly 20-acre campus will, among other features, host a museum dedicated to the 44^th U.S. president in the main 225-foot tower, at the top of which is the ‘Sky Room’ offering sweeping views of the Windy City and Lake Michigan.

At the other end of the Plaza is the Obama Presidential Center Branch of the Chicago Public Library, which includes a ‘Presidential Reading Room’ with around 3,500 titles selected personally by the Obamas.

Between the two is the ‘Forum’, a community and civic space where people can also share a meal at Tafari’s Kitchen. And at the southern end of the campus is the 60,000-sq.ft. ‘Home Court’ athletic and events space.

How much did the Obama Presidential Center cost? Who paid for it?

The Obama Presidential Center cost around $850 million to build. This is nearly triple the initial estimate of $300 million from 2016, although that was bumped up to $500 million when the designs were unveiled in 2017 and then to $850 million last year once the all-in project costs were included. Some of the cost overruns came down to errors in concrete installation.

The Obama Foundation paid for the construction of the campus and center with money from private donations. The foundation says that it has received donations from over 150,000 people in all 50 states and scores of countries around the world. Some of the biggest donors that have been reported include Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who respectively had given $125 million and $100 million as of 2023, reports the Chicago Sun Times.

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