Obama Presidential Center Opens Juneteenth in Chicago

The Obama Presidential Center, a roughly $850 million museum and campus dedicated to the legacy of the 44th president, is set to open to the public on Juneteenth in Chicago’s Jackson Park. The long-awaited opening comes more than a decade after the South Side site was chosen, culminating a project that has sparked both architectural debate and community concerns.

The center’s most prominent feature is a 225-foot-tall granite tower, a nearly windowless structure that has drawn comparisons to a grain elevator, a mausoleum, and a starship from science fiction. For some residents and architecture critics, the design is a jarring departure for a lakefront park more accustomed to classical styles. Brenda Nelms, a longtime area resident who leads a park advocacy group, said the building does not fit in at all.

Foundation officials, however, describe it as a bold, intentional addition to Chicago’s iconic architectural landscape. The design by New York-based architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien was shaped by input from former President Barack Obama, who chose the stone material and wanted a tower offering views of the city near where he once taught and raised his family. The tower’s...