The Obama Presidential Center is responding publicly after years of criticism over its controversial design and rising costs, with a senior Obama Foundation official now attempting to justify the project to skeptics.
Construction on the center began in 2021, but many Chicago residents have remained openly critical of the 225-foot-tall structure rising on the city’s South Side. The gray, largely windowless tower will house President Barack Obama’s presidential library and museum, departing sharply from the traditional design of most presidential libraries.
Obama Foundation Deputy Director Kim Patterson said the building’s appearance — including its lack of windows — was intentional.
“There are not a lot of windows on the building, but that’s intentional, because sunlight is just not a friend to the artwork and the artifacts that are going inside of the building,” Patterson told CBS News during a tour of the site.
Patterson also defended the building’s symbolism, which critics have widely questioned.
“The shape of the building was actually meant to mimic four hands coming together to show the importance of our collective action,” she said.
Despite those explanations, the project has faced sustained backlash from local residents, architects, and fiscal watchdogs. Critics argue the design clashes with Chicago’s architectural heritage and resembles brutalist government structures. Some locals, quoted by the New York Post, have nicknamed the building “The Obamalisk,” a jab at its stark, monolithic appearance.
The controversy has gone beyond aesthetics. In 2018, a lawsuit accused the City of Chicago of illegally transferring public parkland to the Obama Foundation, raising concerns about favoritism and misuse of public assets. That legal challenge was not resolved until 2022, fueling broader concerns about transparency and governance.
Protests have also occurred at the construction site, with residents objecting to both the project’s footprint and its impact on surrounding neighborhoods. Patterson acknowledged that community resistance forced at least one major design change — the relocation of a parking garage.
“If the parking garage was here, it could possibly block sunlight coming to their area, their gardens,” Patterson said.
She noted that the foundation ultimately decided to place the garage underground.
Fiscal concerns remain a major point of contention. When announced in 2017, the Obama Presidential Center was projected to cost $500 million. As of 2025, that figure has ballooned to approximately $850 million — an increase critics say reflects a pattern of cost overruns associated with Obama-era initiatives. While the foundation insists private donations are covering expenses, skeptics question whether additional public infrastructure and security costs will ultimately fall on taxpayers.
The center is currently scheduled to open in June 2026.
The criticism surrounding the Obama library stands in contrast to proposals discussed by President Donald Trump regarding his own future presidential library. Trump has floated plans to locate his library in Florida, potentially near Mar-a-Lago, emphasizing accessibility, private funding, and minimal disruption to public land. Supporters argue such an approach reflects Trump’s broader philosophy of limiting government entanglement and avoiding taxpayer burden.
As debates over presidential legacies increasingly play out through massive construction projects, the Obama Presidential Center has become a flashpoint
