Obama dedicates $850 million presidential center in Chicago
What's next: The South Side campus opens to the public Friday with a museum, library branch and community spaces.
Former President Barack Obama dedicated the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago on Thursday, opening an $850 million South Side campus nearly a decade in the making. The invite-only ceremony drew former presidents and first ladies, celebrities and musicians, while the center itself is set to welcome the public on Friday. Obama used the event to praise Chicago, where he began his political career, and to defend democratic norms, including the peaceful transfer of power after free elections. The more than 19-acre site includes a museum, a branch of the Chicago Public Library, an auditorium, a media suite, a basketball court, gardens and a playground. It is not a presidential library; Obama White House records remain with the National Archives.