Obama Center Installs Indigenous Land Display on 19.3 Acres as Critics Target $10 Park Deal
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jun 20
Obama Center Installs Indigenous Land Display on 19.3 Acres as Critics Target $10 Park Deal
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jun 20
Summary
A permanent "Acknowledging Indigenous Peoples' Land and Territory" display now stands near the Obama Presidential Center's museum tower and statue after the campus opened on Juneteenth in Chicago.
Valerie Jarrett echoed that message at Thursday's dedication, and the sign says Indigenous peoples have inhabited and stewarded the land "since time immemorial" while featuring a 2009 Obama quote on broken treaties and lost lands.
Bob Grogan, chair of the Illinois Republican Party, said the acknowledgment clashes with the center's own land history because the private Obama Foundation received 19.3 acres of Jackson Park public land under a 99-year agreement for a one-time $10 payment.
Grogan also tied the dispute to broader criticism that construction costs are nearing $1 billion, taxpayers funded millions in surrounding infrastructure, and the foundation has not fulfilled a pledged $470 million endowment meant to shield the public from future costs.
The fight adds to scrutiny of a project sold as a South Side economic engine after reports that several subcontractors, including minority-owned firms, say they are still owed millions for work on the center.