{"id":2531,"date":"2026-08-06T19:41:04","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T19:41:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/?p=2531"},"modified":"2026-08-06T19:41:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T19:41:04","slug":"locals-rip-obama-over-latest-update-to-controversial-presidential-library-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/?p=2531","title":{"rendered":"Locals Rip Obama Over Latest Update To Controversial Presidential Library"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recent updates to the Obama Presidential Center have drawn criticism from some residents following the release of new renderings and details about the project\u2019s design and construction plans. The Obama Foundation unveiled revised renderings this week intended to show how the center\u2019s exterior and surrounding space will look once completed. But the unusual design of former President Barack Obama\u2019s new presidential center in Chicago is facing fresh criticism, this time due to complaints that a newly added inscription on the building is nearly illegible.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The text, which comes from a speech Obama gave in Selma, Alabama, in 2015 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the historic civil rights marches, has left many people squinting and scratching their heads because of its layout and the way it wraps around the structure. \u201cI\u2019m outside the Obama Center museum tower right now. The new letters \u2013 an excerpt from Obama\u2019s Selma speech \u2013 are tough read to me, giving off the lorem ipsum vibes,\u201d Chicago Sun-Times architecture critic\u00a0Lee Bay<\/strong>\u00a0wrote on LinkedIn, a reference to the Latin placeholder text often used in graphic design templates. \u201cThe words are cut off. The Ts, Ls, and Is are indistinguishable,\u201d former investment banker and best-selling author\u00a0John LeFevre<\/strong>\u00a0noted on X, adding that the structure \u201cLooks like a trash can.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Breaking: The Obama Presidential Center\u2014now an $850M concrete Taj Mahal on public parkland\u2014proves hope & change was really just \u201chope you don\u2019t notice the change in our bank accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Valerie Jarrett, eternal Obama whisperer, \u201cearned\u201d $740K as CEO in 2024. That\u2019s right\u2014$740,000\u2026\u00a0pic.twitter.com\/Ts3CNuEKY2<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 ZeroDEIUSA (@zeroDEIUSA)\u00a0March 12, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

Temple University Professor Jacob Shell<\/strong>\u00a0also said that the E\u2019s are also \u201cindistinguishable from F\u2019s,\u201d and that \u201cmultiple words get disjointed \u2013 not just on one plane but two.\u201d \u201cTruly, one of the most headache-inducing reading experiences I\u2019ve ever had,\u201d Shell said after trying to read the script. \u201cThey somehow managed to make the Obama presidential library even uglier,\u201d conservative influencer\u00a0Johnny Maga<\/strong>\u00a0said bluntly. \u201cMy gosh.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Displacement Concerns in Woodlawn<\/h2>\n

In addition to the eyesore, many residents of Chicago\u2019s Woodlawn neighborhood, near the Obama Presidential Center, face a difficult situation: they must either pay more rent or risk losing their house. At Chaney Braggs Apartments, located at 65th Street and Stony Island Avenue, the nearly two dozen tenants announced the formation of a union. According to the group, a potential buyer intends to either renovate or completely demolish their building. Rent would increase in either case.<\/p>\n

According to the tenants, a few other organizations joined them on Thursday morning in an effort to maintain the affordability of their apartments. \u201cI want to stay right where I\u2019m at. I don\u2019t want to be forced out. I don\u2019t want to be told I have to leave. I want to be able to stay,\u201d said resident\u00a0Kyana Butler<\/strong>. \u201cI want to be able to let my daughter, and I want her to grow up in the same building I grew up in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Obama\u2019s Involvement in Design<\/h2>\n

Valerie Jarrett<\/strong>, CEO of the Obama Foundation and a senior adviser during President Obama\u2019s two terms, highlighted that he has played an active role in shaping the design of his library. \u201cI wish that people could be a fly on the wall to see how many times in the course of the day that I hear from President Obama about ideas for the center, tweaks, programming, and what we can do for the design,\u201d Jarrett said when asked.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recent updates to the Obama Presidential Center have drawn criticism from some residents following the release of new renderings and details about the project\u2019s design and construction plans. The Obama … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2532,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2531"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2531\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2533,"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2531\/revisions\/2533"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}