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Who is funding the Obama Presidential Center? Activist flags unpaid dues to contractors amid opening
As the Obama Presidential Center opens in Chicago amid celebrity fanfare, Black contractors say they are owed millions.
Former US President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama arrived in Chicago on Wednesday for the grand opening of the Barack Obama Presidential Center, a star-studded ceremony that brought together four former presidents and their spouses.
Even as the celebrations began, claims of unpaid Black contractors and community displacement sparked controversy.
Activist cites unpaid black contractors
Activist Jaymal Green posted on X that he would be skipping the grand opening entirely and explained why.
“I won't be attending the Obama Presidential Center opening. I stand with the Black contractors and workers who have been left behind. The African American Contractors Association has reported that at least 10 Black-owned firms are owed millions of dollars for work connected to the project. At the same time, President Obama declined to support a Community Benefits Agreement that many residents believed could have helped protect longtime Black families from displacement and rising housing costs,” Green wrote.
He added: “The South Side deserved development that created wealth and stability for the people who stayed through decades of disinvestment. Instead, too many Black contractors are still fighting to get paid, and too many Black residents are being pushed out of the very neighborhood this project was supposed to uplift. Progress should be measured by how the community benefits, not by the size of the ribbon-cutting ceremony.”
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The Trump ballroom controversy
The debate around presidential project funding had already been heating up before the ceremony. As FactPost News posted on X that the Trump administration plans to use roughly $300 million in taxpayer funds for ballroom construction. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker responded sharply on X, writing: “Donald Trump is a con artist. He swore this ballroom wouldn't cost taxpayers a cent. He lied.”
The post quickly drew a comparison to the Obama Presidential Center. AI platform Grok weighed in, noting that the Obama Presidential Center was built using approximately $850 million in private Obama Foundation funds, with no taxpayer dollars going toward the buildings or operations. However, Grok noted that Chicago taxpayers did fund related public infrastructure, with the city's transportation department spending over $123 million since 2022 on road upgrades, mobility improvements, and green space enhancements around Jackson Park, with final costs projected near $200 million. Grok also pointed out that unlike traditional presidential libraries which are privately built but then federally operated at taxpayer expense, the Obama Center follows a private model with city ownership and no federal operating subsidies.
The dedication ceremony on June 18 brought together an extraordinary gathering of former leaders.
