Obama presidential center costs taxpayers hundreds of millions

FIRST ON FOX: Former President Barack Obama once declared that the presidential center would be a “gift” to Chicago, but taxpayers are on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in hidden costs associated with the beleaguered project.

An investigation by Fox News Digital shows that taxpayers are stuck footing the bill for the rising public infrastructure costs needed to support the project, and despite months of queries and FOIA requests, no government agency has been able to provide an accounting of the total public cost.

Illinois GOP Chair Kathy Salvi told Fox News Digital: “Illinois Republicans saw this coming a mile away. Now, just in time, Illinois Democrats are leaving taxpayers high and dry and leaving them on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars to support the ugliest building in Chicago.” “Illinois’s culture of corruption hums along with pay-per-deal deals to allies and friends while lying to Illinois voters.”

When the project was approved in 2018, Obama pledged to privately fund construction of the sprawling 19.3-acre campus in historic Jackson Park through a donation to the Obama Foundation; This commitment continues as construction of the center continues to be privately financed.

But the extensive infrastructure needed to make the campus operationally viable (including redesigned roads, stormwater systems, and relocated utilities) is publicly funded, and without these changes the center could not operate.

Estimates at the time showed public infrastructure costs would be roughly $350 million, split between the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago.

OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER IS DEPOSITING ONLY 1 MILLION DOLLARS IN THE 470 MILLION DOLLAR RESERVE FUND TO PROTECT TAXPAYERS

Eight years later, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) told Fox News Digital that about $229 million in infrastructure spending is tied to the site, up from the roughly $174 million previously estimated.

The $229 million figure reflects state-directed spending, which may also include federal transportation funds directed through IDOT.

Chicago officials, meanwhile, have been unable to produce a compromised total that shows how much city taxpayers have committed or how current spending compares to the roughly $175 million discussed when the project was approved.

A paper trail that doesn’t add up

Fox News Digital sent records requests and press questions to every agency involved in infrastructure efforts, including the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT), Office of Budget and Management (OBM), the Mayor’s Office, and Governor J.B. Pritzker’s administration.

Not a single office was able to provide a unified, up-to-date accounting of total public infrastructure expenditures tied to the project. The investigation involved months of FOIA requests, partial disclosures and repeated follow-ups.

No single agency appears to be overseeing the full scope of infrastructure work, and neither the state nor the city has established a consensual accounting; This fragmentation makes it difficult to determine the overall public cost.

Instead, the agencies provided partial figures, refused to disclose whether city and state totals overlapped, or insisted there was no consolidated total.

The Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Advisor (PAC) is reviewing whether multiple agencies are complying with state transparency laws following Fox News Digital FOIA requests.

Exterior view of the Obama Presidential Center tower under construction in Chicago. (Fox 32 Chicago)

Construction costs are increasing

The center sits on 19 acres of historic public parkland carved out by a controversial transfer of just $10 under a 99-year agreement, making the issue of public infrastructure spending particularly sensitive. Legal challenges to the land transfer, including cases arguing that the arrangement was not in the public interest, were ultimately dismissed, although the merits of the claims were not decided.

Although commonly referred to as the presidential “library,” the center will not function as a traditional facility operated by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), and former President Obama’s official records will be held by NARA at a federal facility in Maryland.

While the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago is expected to provide digital access to archival materials, it will not serve as a federally operated records repository.

Instead, the Chicago complex will be privately operated, rent-free, by the Obama Foundation, the former president’s nonprofit organization that oversees leadership programs and civic initiatives aligned with his values ​​and policy priorities.

According to the foundation’s 2024 tax filings, construction costs for the facility have risen from roughly $330 million in initial estimates to at least $850 million; however, these costs are covered by private donors.

Meanwhile, the foundation has received only $1 million in deposits of the $470 million reserve fund (known as an endowment) it had promised to fill to protect taxpayers if the project failed, Fox News Digital previously reported.

THE OBAMA LIBRARY, WHICH STARTED WITH HIGH DEI TARGETS, IS NOW STRUGGLED BY $40 MILLION OF RACIST FEES AND BALLOON COSTS

The before and after aerial graphic shows the footprint of the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park, including the removal of Cornell Drive and construction along Stony Island Boulevard. (Fox News)

Roads were removed and routes were rebuilt

Taxpayers often fund routine improvements near major civic projects (like turning lanes, utility connections or improved traffic signals), but the scale of the work surrounding the Obama Presidential Center is much more extensive.

By comparison, other modern presidential libraries required only limited public infrastructure improvements and did not require the removal of a major road or the wholesale redesign of a historic park’s traffic pattern.

Much of the publicly funded work has reshaped the roads and facilities that once ran through Jackson Park.

Cornell Drive, a four-lane road bordering the center’s east side with the park’s lagoon, was permanently removed as part of the center’s site plan and flanked by the campus. Traffic that once passed by the lagoon was rerouted further west, reducing the number of public roads directly adjacent to the complex and creating a more unified campus area around the center.

As part of the public infrastructure project, crews also demolished trees, relocated water mains, sewer lines and electrical infrastructure, and installed new drainage systems based on the facility’s structural needs.

City and state officials say the changes are necessary to manage traffic and visitor demand. Critics argued that the redesign altered long-standing park infrastructure to fit the foundation’s preferred layout.

What is clear is that without these road closures, route changes and utility relocations, the project would not work as designed.

The Obama Foundation, which financed the construction of the center, defended the project in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“The Obama Foundation is investing $850 million in private funds to build the Obama Presidential Center and give back to the community that made the Obamas’ story possible,” said foundation spokeswoman Emily Bittner.

“After decades of underinvestment on Chicago’s South Side, OPC is catalyzing investment from both public and private sources to create economic opportunities for residents through jobs, housing, public spaces and amenities.”

A map graphic shows the footprint of the Obama Presidential Center inside Jackson Park, located along Lake Michigan on Chicago’s South Side. (Fox News)

The number no one will tell

IDOT, which controls state funding for the corridor and has awarded major transportation contracts associated with the project, acknowledged that state-run infrastructure spending totaled approximately $229 million but did not produce a consolidated accounting that reconciled that total across all project phases.

“The state has contributed approximately $229 million through IDOT to date, with all major portions of this aspect of the overall project being awarded,” an IDOT spokesperson told Fox News Digital in its latest release in July. he said. “Approximate breakdown of these funds: $19 million for preliminary engineering, $24 million for civil engineering, and $186 million for construction activities.”

The initial $174 million figure “is a preliminary 2017 cost estimate,” the spokesperson said.

CDOT, which conducted road closures, traffic rerouting, and utility relocation efforts within Jackson Park, granted Fox News Digital’s FOIA request dated October 7, 2025, and received a legal extension, but never issued a final determination or provided the requested records. The department also did not provide a combined city total or clarify how Chicago’s capital allocations match up with state spending.

OBM, which oversees the city’s capital allocations, did not say whether the city’s $175 million estimate remained current and referred Fox News Digital to the Capital Improvements Plan. Chicago’s latest 2024-2028 Capital Improvements Plan — the city’s multi-year infrastructure budget — lists more than $206 million allocated to roadway and utility work surrounding the project. But much of this funding is labeled “government,” and neither state nor city officials can explain how these allocations match up with IDOT’s reported totals.

In a FOIA response, OBM said: “does not have sensitive logs” showing any cost overruns, reallocations or spending breakdowns in major components of the Obama Center infrastructure work.

The agency also failed to explain how Chicago’s $206 million budget cap related to IDOT’s $229 million figure or how much of the city’s amount was actually paid by Chicago rather than the state.

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Chicago’s 2024-2028 Capital Improvements Program lists $206,078,058 for “Obama Presidential Center and Jackson Park – Infrastructure Improvements,” with most of the funding labeled as state source. (City of Chicago Capital Improvement Program)

Pritzker’s office gave conflicting answers and ultimately produced no records showing the state’s total infrastructure spending.

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office, meanwhile, did not respond to repeated requests for the city’s total infrastructure spending tied to the project or how much more Chicago expects to commit.

Without updated memorandums from both levels of government, taxpayers still do not have a clear accounting of financial obligations related to the centre.

What is clear is that Obama’s “gift” to Chicago comes with a high public price tag that further complicates matters, and without updated cost estimates, the true total cost is unknown.