CHICAGO (CBS) — The Obama Foundation is teaming up with the Chicago Botanic Garden to get some design advice for the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park.
The Botanic Garden, located in Glencoe, will offer expertise in designing and operating a fruit and vegetable garden.
They are also finding ways to reuse water – repurposing existing trees and supporting migratory birds.
Preliminary work on the center is under way in Jackson Park, with groundbreaking planned for September.
Obama Foundation chairman Marty Nesbitt said former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama will attend the groundbreaking, and “will spend time here at the center.”
The center will include a 235-foot stone tower housing the site’s museum; a Chicago Public Library branch; a multipurpose space on top of the museum, a program, activity, and athletic center for community programs and events; a Great Lawn for social gatherings, barbecues, a nature center; and new walking and biking trails; a children’s play area; and a fruit and vegetable garden and teaching kitchen.
The center will not include a formal presidential library operated by the National Archives and Records Administration. Rather, Obama’s collection of presidential documents and artifacts will be stored in existing NARA facilities, and non-classified documents will be available online.