Frederick Law Olmsted’s Washington Park could easily be the definition of an urban oasis.  A famous part of Chicago’s African American cultural experience, the park is home to the DuSable museum of African American History, and is the terminus of the yearly Bud Billiken parade celebrating local achievement, known as “the largest African American parade in the United States” .  The park has served as the setting for countless family gatherings and community meetings, and is a point of reference in numerous African American artistic works.

In this idyllic setting, situated against a powerful backdrop of living history, a unique opportunity exists to situate the Barack Obama Presidential Center in a strategic and heroic location.  It offers close proximity to both the University of Chicago and the Chicago lakefront, enriched by unparalleled visibility, public transit, and highway access.  It is a logical place to situate a great monument, centered at the crossroads of two important Chicago thoroughfares, at the primary point of eastbound access to Hyde Park and the mid-South lakefront.

Placing the Obama Presidential Center at the helm of the magnificent 372-acre park gives the Center a footprint directly within the urban environment, where it can form a meaningful, daily connection with the populace and will pay the greatest economic dividends to the immediate area.  Amazingly, and in stark contrast to the current Jackson Park location, all of this is attainable without inflicting senseless damage on the natural environment, the historic park and boulevards, the neighborhood, or Chicago’s established patterns of life.

Conversely, the current scheme for the Obama Presidential Center is enfeebled by countless drawbacks, compromises, and limitations, most directly the outgrowth of its poor siting within Jackson Park.  An urban site beside Washington Park would allow Chicago to fully realize this great monument to our 44th President.  Once completed, the Obama legacy in Chicago can continue to flourish.

This tour describes the triumphant possibilities of a particular site aside Washington Park, where a beautifully historic, yet challenged, neighborhood awaits the right strategic planning and investment to thrive again.