Poetic Justice: Obama Library Delayed - Discrimination Lawsuits, Environmental Injunctions, Enrichment Allegations

The proposed Obama Center in Chicago has faced numerous legal challenges and other complications, turning the project into a prolonged and contentious endeavor.

Originally announced in 2017 following former President Barack Obama's departure from office, the project encountered immediate opposition from local residents and other stakeholders. Initially set to open in 2021, the center's projected completion date has now been pushed to 2026.

The Institute for Policy Innovation criticized the site selection, stating that the center’s “poor location misses valuable opportunities to improve overall land use and economic development in Chicago from putting it elsewhere.”

“The Foundation’s sweetheart deal with Chicago violates the public trust doctrine, and the actual transfer took place without the Foundation meeting either its financial preconditions or the multiple environmental laws protecting key public landmarks. Even at this late date, the deal should be undone.

“If allowed to be completed, the OPC project would uproot close to 1,000 mature trees and disrupt major migratory bird paths that run north-to-south along the shore of Lake Michigan. In total, the public cost of the new roadwork — borne by both the federal government and Illinois, but not the Obama Foundation, of course — probably exceeds $300 million dollars (and growing with inflation), ultimately leaving the already overtaxed and congested system with three fewer north-south lanes than before,” the group wrote.

As challenges have mounted, enthusiasm for the project has waned.

In 2023, financial disclosures showed the Obama Foundation raised $129.3 million for programming and construction efforts, a significant drop from the $311.3 million collected the previous year, as reported by the Hyde Park Herald.

Adding to the controversy, a Chicago-based subcontractor has filed a $40 million lawsuit, alleging racial discrimination negatively impacted the company, according to WFLD.

The legal action targets Thornton Tomasetti, the primary firm overseeing the $830 million initiative.

“In a shocking and disheartening turn of events, the African American owner of a local construction company finds himself and his company on the brink of forced closure because of racial discrimination by the structural engineer,” the lawsuit alleges.

“II in One and its joint venture partners … was subjected to baseless criticisms and defamatory and discriminatory accusations by the Obama Foundation’s structural engineer, Thornton Tomasetti,” the legal filing asserts.

The lawsuit further claims that Thornton Tomasetti deviated from the American Concrete Institute’s standards, imposing “excessively rigorous and unnecessary inspection” procedures that resulted in significant cost overruns.

In response, Thornton Tomasetti has pushed back, arguing the subcontractor was “questionably qualified.”

A company memo stated that it and another firm “bent over backwards to assist what everyone knows was a questionably qualified subcontractor team in areas where more qualified subcontractor would not have required it.”

Additionally, concerns have arisen regarding compensation for foundation executives.

According to the U.K.’s Daily Mail, former White House aide and current Obama Foundation CEO Valerie Jarrett earned $740,000 in a single year for overseeing the project.