CHICAGO (MSI) — Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama opened the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago’s Jackson Park neighborhood on Thursday, a decade after the 44th president left the White House. The ceremony drew former Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Joe Biden, as well as international dignitaries, celebrities and thousands of members of the public.
The 19.3-acre campus on the city’s South Side functions as a monument to the Obama administration while combining museum and reading-room elements with community amenities including a playground, basketball court, recording studio and public library. The Obamas chose the Jackson Park location near their pre-White House Chicago home.
“For me, this centre could not be any place else,” Obama told visitors during an opening ceremony, according to BBC News. “It’s an expression of thanks, an acknowledgement that so much of what I hold most dear I owe to the people of this city and the people of these surrounding neighbourhoods.”
Obama described the center as rooted in the idea that community members and visitors can come together and create change. He said it was not designed as a “lifeless mausoleum” but as a “vibrant, living celebration of community” where people can “learn together and share the joys of art and music and sport and play.”
Michelle Obama’s speech moved her husband to wipe away tears as she praised his optimism and resilience. She invited visitors to “put away your phones and talk and laugh and cry,” to make new friends, work in her garden, use the playground and have romantic picnics on the Great Lane.
“Because that’s the work of democracy: being neighbourly, taking care of public spaces,” she said, according to BBC News. “How do we love enjoying each other, shaking out of the isolation and division that have crept too deeply into our lives.”
Obama Foundation CEO Valerie Jarrett said in opening remarks that the center “is not a monument to the Obamas” but “a tribute to all those who make their journey possible.”
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — both of whom served during Obama’s tenure — were among the dignitaries in attendance. Celebrities included Jennifer Hudson, Christina Aguilera, John Legend, Common, Marc Anthony, U2’s Bono and The Edge, Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Wonder. Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder, an Illinois native, performed an original song written with youth from the Guitars Over Guns program.
Current U.S. President Donald Trump, who has feuded openly with Obama, was not invited to the opening. BBC News reported that Trump’s absence was felt as speakers alluded to his policies as being responsible for political and cultural fissures across the country.
Spectators told BBC News they were grateful to the Obamas for bringing the center to the South Side of Chicago.