Opening date of Obama Presidential Center still uncertain

Posted: Jan 1, 2020 / 02:49 PM CST / Updated: Jan 1, 2020 / 02:49 PM CST

ARCHIVE PHOTO: Former President Barack Obama points out features of the proposed Obama Presidential Center, which is scheduled to be built in nearby Jackson Park, during a gathering at the South Shore Cultural Center on May 3, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

CHICAGO — Four years after Chicago was chosen as the site of the Obama Presidential Center, it’s still unclear when construction will begin.

Early predictions were that the $500 million facility could open in 2020.

But the Chicago Tribune reports that the Obama Foundation has been reluctant to publicly release a new timeline.

Part of the holdup is a lengthy federal review process that’s needed because of the location of a lakefront park that’s on the National Register of Historic Places. There’s also been a lawsuit and protests over neighborhood displacement.