Obamas break ground on presidential center

After five years of legal battles, gentrification concerns and a federal review, Barack and Michelle Obama attended a celebratory groundbreaking Tuesday on their legacy project in a lakefront Chicago park.

Construction on the site along Lake Michigan, near the Obama family home and where the former president started his political career on Chicago’s South Side, officially began last month. Work on the Obama Presidential Center is expected to take about five years.

The Obamas hosted the event, which was streamed online to limit crowds amid the coronavirus pandemic, with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

"We envision this as a place where residents and visitors from all over the world come together and restore the promise of the people’s park. So, that ill be the core mission of the center and our foundation program," the former president said.