Challenge to Obama presidential center tossed

CHICAGO — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit that sought to prevent the construction of the Obama Presidential Center in a park on Chicago’s South Side.

In a ruling issued Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Robert Blakey rejected the contention by the group Protect Our Parks that the city’s park district improperly gave control of the land in Jackson Park to former President Barack Obama’s foundation in violation of the public trust.

Citing the state law that governs museums, the judge said the Obama Center will “confer a public benefit because they ‘serve valuable public purposes, including … furthering human knowledge and understanding, educating and inspiring the public, and expanding recreational and cultural resources and opportunities.”

The Obama Foundation applauded the ruling, and Kristen Cabanban, spokeswoman for the city’s law department, said the city was “pleased with the court’s decision.”

Protect Our Parks had argued that federal agencies should have considered building the center elsewhere to avoid damage to the environment, but the city and the foundation said federal agencies closed the final review because they determined the center would not significantly affect the environment.

Protect Our Parks founder and President Herb Caplan said the organization would appeal.

The foundation said the center is scheduled to open in 2025. Organizers expect to attract about 750,000 visitors a year.

The center will sit on 19 acres of the 540-acre Jackson Park, named for the nation’s seventh president, Andrew Jackson. It will be located near the Obama family home and where the former president started his political career on the city’s South Side.