Columbia University in New York and the University of Hawaii are also on the short list, says the Chicago Tribune. The other two are just as strong possibilities as the sites in Chicago, an assistant to the U. of C. president told the Tribune. It’s still anybody’s guess where it could go.
Columbia’s assets include its designation as Obama’s undergraduate alma mater and its plans to build the library as part of an extension into a predominately black neighborhood in Manhattan. Hawaii is protecting its claim to fame in this case as Obama’s birthplace. But the Tribune points out the Windy City is the birthplace of Obama’s presidential run.
“This is where he came of age politically to be able to do that run. That is what we reference to when we say, ‘Bring it on home,’” said [President and CEO of DuSable Museum of African American History Carol] Adams, a member of the U. of C.’s community advisory board on the presidential library.
Another tick in Chicago’s favor, on the UIC side: Mayor Rahm Emanuel promised the city would donate a large area in the city’s West Side as a spot to build the library and a museum and re-open the Kostner Avenue Blue Line station for easier access if the public university is chosen as the site. The project would cost the city up to $40 million, says Crain’s Chicago Business.
From Crain’s:
In addition, the mayor said in the Nov. 21 letter that the city would seek a new tax-increment financing district in the area to fund small-business grants and create a small-business incubator for firms to serve visitors to the library. A City Hall source says the city is helping with both proposals.
The city also would provide new sidewalks, bike lanes, landscaping, decorative streetlights and other improvements that “would be expansive, considering the needs of residents and including surrounding neighborhoods,” the letter said.
According to Chicago Tonight, the mayor was careful to make clear that he would be happy to have the library anywhere in Chicago and doesn’t favor one location over another.
But the city would have to overcome a few obstacles before construction could even begin.
From the Tribune:
While President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama have close academic and personal ties to the University of Chicago, and his political career began on the South Side, the U. of C. faces several hurdles in acquiring land to build the library. The negotiations also would involve the foundation and the city.
One major argument against the library coming to the University of Chicago comes from activists who say the school should focus on other, more serious priorities before the library. ABC7 says a group has planned a protest outside the president’s home on the South Side Dec. 11 to call for the library’s placement elsewhere or postponement of the library’s placement at the U. of C. until the university reopens its adult trauma center, closed for 26 years.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that although the U. of C. might be in Obama’s neighborhood, it is also a private, expensive school, an argument UIC has used against it.
UIC has also touted its own plans to locate the library in a park.
From Chicago Tonight:
“The mission of the university aligns itself perfectly with the Obama administration,” [UIC Obama Library Steering Committee member Michael] Pagano said. “Providing access to education, health care, providing all people access to what the United States is all about.”
But if the president and first lady do choose the University of Chicago, the school has promised partnerships with 17 other colleges and universities in the city, except UIC (though Chicago Tonight says both schools do actually plan on working together if either is chosen). The Sun-Times speculates that this omission is probably not about bad feelings, but more about the school trying not to look obnoxious:
I reported last March that the U. of C. was discussing partnerships with Hawaii and UIC; my guess is U of C did not publically comment about its rivals for fear of looking presumptuous.
Each school would have its own niche role to play in research at the library, says the Sun-Times, in a focus on what the school calls a “core” mission of “collaboration”:
Some of the concepts the U. of C. is advancing: Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism would run a “newsroom” out of the library; DePaul scholars would study youth violence; IIT would ponder digital policies; CSU would focus on African-American males; the Art Institute would explore urban agriculture, and Loyola would help prepare for environmental sustainability careers.
The U. of Chicago would, among other projects, conduct research on violence prevention; South Side health care providers and the history and impact of Obamacare.
With half of the possible sites in Chicago, the odds are good for the city. But with such strong competition, it’s not over till it’s over.
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