The Obama Presidential Center held its dedication ceremony in Chicago's Jackson Park on Thursday, capping more than a decade of planning, legal challenges, and construction on the South Side campus, according to The Associated Press.
Both Barack Obama and Michelle Obama were scheduled to address the crowd at the ceremony, which was streamed publicly and included performances from Bruce Springsteen, Bono, Stevie Wonder, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, and others, according to the AP. Joining Obama at the event were three of his predecessors and successor: George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Joseph R. Biden Jr., according to The New York Times.
President Donald Trump was not invited. Valerie Jarrett, who leads the Obama Foundation and previously served as a senior White House adviser, told reporters that while Trump was not on the guest list for the dedication, he would be received warmly as a future visitor, according to NPR. Trump called the center a "total disaster" in a February social media post, according to the AP.
Spread across more than 19 acres, the development features a museum, a Chicago Public Library branch, a basketball court built to NBA specifications, a Women's Garden, walking paths through a wetland area, a fruit and vegetable garden, and a playground, according to NPR. Unlike a traditional presidential library, the center does not serve as a repository for Obama's official records; custody of those materials belongs to the National Archives, NPR reported.
The museum opened to the general public on Friday, which coincides with the Juneteenth holiday. Adult admission is $30, or $26 for Illinois residents, according to The New York Times. Financed entirely through private giving, the Obama Foundation anticipates the campus will draw upward of one million visitors each year and has hired 250 staff members to work at the museum.
Rahm Emanuel, who served as Chicago's mayor when the project was announced in 2015 and worked to secure the city as its home, described the center's economic significance to the South Side as something that would resonate across generations, he told The Times.
Update, June 21, 2026: Subcontractors who worked on the Obama Presidential Center say they are owed nearly $4 million in unpaid wages, and some are considering laying off union workers as a result. The claims come despite the project's stated commitment to supporting minority- and locally-owned businesses.