After months of preparation and a final submission earlier this month, four sites are in the running to be the home of Barack Obama’s presidential library. But the two Chicago locations — one at the University of Chicago and the other at the University of Illinois at Chicago — may be in trouble. The Chicago Tribune reports that library officials aren’t thrilled by the two schools’ submissions. Their concerns are based on questions about land and leadership.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that land ownership details are the biggest obstacle standing in the way of a University of Chicago.
From the Sun-Times:
A source close to the foundation told me that the University of Chicago bid is in jeopardy because it does not own — and has no definite path to acquiring at present — any of the South Side sites the school proposed in its Dec. 11 bid. The land is owned by the Chicago Park District.
The Tribune says that the foundation would want to see the university own all of the land on which it plans to build the library. The situation could get sticky if the Chicago Park District owns the land, but the University of Chicago runs the facility.
The potential problem with UIC’s bid, someone close to the Barack Obama Foundation told the Tribune, is that the university’s upcoming leadership changes could create unstable circumstances in which to build the library.
From the Sun-Times:
As for UIC, the foundation board and staff is worried about the “unsettled nature of future leadership” there. The University of Illinois system is getting a new president and a new board chairman, and UIC a new chancellor next year, and the “leadership transition” raises questions because of “the uncertainty that accompanies it,” the source told me.
Current leadership and the foundation could work out an arrangement that the new leadership might not like and try to block. But UIC heads said in a statement De. 30 that they were confident both sets of leadership could work together and with the foundation in pursuit of the best possible library.
From the Sun-Times:
“The Obama Foundation should feel confident in the University leadership’s ongoing support,” UIC said.
With both of Chicago‘s hopes for the library under scrutiny and the city’s good odds taking a nose dive, Mayor Rahm Emanuel sprung into action to help save at least one bid ‘s chances. Greg Hinz at Crain’s Chicago Business says that Emanuel is looking into how the city might acquire the Chicago Parks District land which U of C plans to build on. Having the city own the property might make the plans look more stable to the foundation’s board.
The plan proposed by Emanuel’s administration would make sure the land is given back to the park district if the library ends up somewhere else, Hinz reported.
The plan to buy up park land wouldn’t satisfy everyone, of course. Hinz points out that some people would be unhappy to see park land gobbled up for a library. But David Spielfogel, a mayoral aide, put those concerns to rest.
From Crain’s:
“We will work with the neighborhood community and engage the stakeholders. But the mayor is committed to getting the library here,” Spielfogel told me in a phone interview. Though some may protest “giving up” park land for a library, “there is a lot of support for the library on the South Side,” where Obama spent the bulk of his professional and political career.
The University of Chicago also seems to be on board with this new plan, as per a statement Dec. 30. If it is the only way to save their bid, which plans to build the library in the South Side neighborhood of Hyde Park and which could create 1,900 jobs, it looks like the University is willing to support the mayor’s ideas.
From Crain’s:
Says university exec Susan Sher in a statement: “Chicago’s South Side is the best location for the Obama presidential library, and we have been working closely with city officials and other stakeholders on our dynamic proposal with three excellent potential sites for the presidential library. We will continue to do whatever we can to ensure a smooth public process, focused on producing tangible benefits for our communities and building lasting partnerships that will sustain the presidential library far into the future.”
With these potential issues, prospects are looking up for the library’s two other possible locations: Columbia University in New York and the University of Hawaii. The University of Hawaii may be “long shot,” says the Tribune, but Columbia already has one thing in its favor: it already owns all the land proposed for the library.
NEXT ARTICLE: Two Obama library bids in Chicago down to the wire, ultimate location remains a mystery
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