After more than a decade in the planning stages, the Obama Presidential Center will throw open its doors to the public on Juneteenth, bringing a sprawling 20-acre campus to Chicago's South Side that blends presidential history, community gathering space, and a full-service public library into one venue.
The complex sits at 6001 S. Stony Island Ave. and represents roughly $850 million in investment. What emerges from that effort is part museum, part civic anchor, designed to function as what the Obama Foundation describes as a "living, breathing legacy" meant to inspire visitors to drive change in their own neighborhoods.
The campus itself will be free and open to the public. A full-size basketball court, acres of landscaped green space, picnic areas with grills, public art installations, and a new Chicago Public Library branch all sit outside the museum tower and require no admission. Visitors who want to tour the museum itself will need a ticket.
Museum admission runs $30 for adults age 12 and older, with Illinois residents receiving a $4 discount at $26. Children ages 3 to 11 pay $23, while Illinois residents in that age group get in for $15. Several groups qualify for free access, including all Illinois residents on Tuesdays, Illinois teachers, active-duty military, veterans, and Chicago first responders. Timed entry tickets can be purchased online in advance.
Inside the museum tower, visitors will encounter what officials describe as the first fully digital presidential museum of its kind. Rather than displaying documents behind glass in traditional fashion, the center features high-tech and hands-on exhibits that walk through Obama's campaigns, pivotal moments of his presidency, and daily life in the White House. A replica of the Oval Office sits within the museum itself.
The museum will also showcase Michelle Obama's iconic gowns. About a dozen outfits sit on mannequins behind glass, including the black and red Narciso Rodriguez dress the former first lady wore on election night in 2008, when Chicago celebrated its native son's victory.
The grand opening unfolds across a three-day stretch from June 19 to June 21, with an "open-house-style weekend" that the center promises will be free for all visitors to the campus. A separate official ceremony takes place June 18, with both Barack and Michelle Obama expected to attend. The ceremony will also be broadcast live for viewers worldwide.
During the opening weekend, organizers have planned live entertainment, pop-up food stations, face painting, storytime, and fan zones featuring appearances from Chicago's professional sports teams and their mascots. The museum itself will be ticketed for the opening days, with those tickets already sold out.
Officials expect the center to draw as many as one million visitors annually once operations normalize. The project received support from Comcast NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News.
"It is a living, breathing legacy, because our hope is that people bring change back to their communities," said Valerie Jarrett, CEO of the Obama Foundation, in comments to NBC News.
Thousands of people have already caught glimpses of the campus during preview tours held as crews finished final art installations and landscaping work. The full public experience begins June 19.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "The Obama Center arrives not as a museum that locks visitors into the past, but as an open campus designed for the present, mixing presidential artifacts with basketball courts and a public library in a bet that history works best when it shares space with community life."
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