The general location adjacent to Washington Park, utilized throughout the Twin Embraces plan, was originally proposed for this purpose by the University of Chicago in its bid to win the Presidential Center project.  The bulk of this presently underutilized and forlorn land is owned by the University of Chicago and the City of Chicago (or its division, the Chicago Transit Authority).

Mediating between the park, the boulevard, and the underappreciated Garfield Boulevard commercial corridor, the Obama Presidential Center development can take advantage of the grandeur of Washington Park while actively participating in the daily urban constitution of the city.  In this way, it can rightfully become an integral part of the lives of Chicagoans, providing key structural componentry where today there is none.

Proximity to the main quadrangle of the University of Chicago from the two sites is almost identical.  In fact, the connection between the University and the Presidential Center is more direct and more overt when constructed aside Washington Park, where major University buildings already rise along the eastern boundary.  (The University’s athletic fields are visible in the photograph above, directly across the park from the proposed site – a distance of less than 0.5 miles.)

Indeed, the site aside Washington Park is the principal western gateway to Hyde Park and to the University.  By encouraging the strength of community, and by placing a great monument in this special location, a truly world-class, exhilarating, and welcoming experience is eminently possible.