Obama library will be built in historic south side Chicago park
CHICAGO (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's library and museum will be located in a historic park on Chicago's South Side in a bid to draw investment and jobs to impoverished neighborhoods in the area, his foundation said on Friday.
The Obama Presidential Center will be built in 500-acre (200-hectare) Jackson Park, which was first developed as the site of the 1893 World's Fair.
First lady Michelle Obama is from the South Side of Chicago, and she and the president lived there together for many years. The South Side is home to the University of Chicago and the Museum of Science and Industry as well as businesses, but many neighborhoods are plagued by poverty and crime.
"We are proud that the center will help spur development in an urban area, and we can't wait to forge new ways to give back to the people of Chicago who have given us so much," Obama said in a statement.
Chicago beat out proposals by New York City, where Obama went to college, and Hawaii, where he was born, to be home to the library and museum, which are expected to be open to visitors by 2021.
Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects Partners of New York and Interactive Design Architects of Chicago were named in June as the firms that will lead the design of the center.
(Reporting by Fiona Ortiz; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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