Current plans for the Barack Obama Presidential Center call for the direct removal and clearance of 19.8 acres of public green space within Chicago’s Jackson Park, one of the South Side of Chicago’s most precious natural resources (shown above).  The land is already in the process of being appropriated for this private use, and is no longer under the aegis of the Chicago Park District.  Secondary impacts associated with the development damage or expressly eliminate, at minimum, thirty acres of mature parkland.  In total, over one thousand mature trees are expected to be killed. ¹  These poorly conceived plans are bad for the city, bad for the environment, bad for the community, and bad for the proud legacy of our 44th President.  The following tour demonstrates why.

More than just environmental harm, however, detriment from this proposed imposition into the public’s space is widespread.  Communities throughout the South Side are set to be divided by the uprooting of historic and well-traveled routes, their opportunities for inclusive economic growth and overall cohesion dashed.  Basic services such as access to shopping, medical care, and higher education will be vastly reduced for communities that already struggle with limited options and investment.  And history itself suffers, with the celebrated Midway Plaisance and Chicago Boulevard system gracelessly severed.

Why must the South Side of Chicago make these drastic sacrifices, when so much of this once-thriving community has already been lost?  Even more puzzling, why are Chicago and the Barack Obama Foundation forfeiting a generational opportunity to make one of Chicago’s many struggling communities whole again?  Dozens of empty locations exist where the Barack Obama Presidential Center could reverse the immediate area’s misfortunes, serving as a bastion of hope and rebirth for the entire South Side.  Yet the lush and prosperous gardens of Jackson Park clearly are not among these!  In fact, it is hard to identify a location on the South Side where the Obama Presidential Center would have less connection with, and less impact on, Chicago's urban life.

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Notes

¹  The National Park Service studied tree impacts in Jackson Park directly resulting from the Obama Presidential Center and its associated roadwork.  The survey identified:

• Three hundred and seventy-two (372) mature trees killed on the site of the Presidential Center, coupled with
• Four hundred and seventeen (417) mature trees killed related to road reconfiguration and widening.

These figures do not include other expected losses to trees in Jackson Park, including those from planned expansion of the golf course, and the resulting displacement / relocation of sporting facilities.  Taken as a whole, the number of mature trees lost is conservatively estimated to be well over one thousand (1,000).  It should be further noted that the replacement planting plans from the Chicago Park District lack the diversity of tree species being lost.  Further, several native species impacted are considered uncommon-to-rare in the Chicago area, such as Alnus incana (Speckled Alder) and Morus rubra (Red Mulberry).