Press Coverage
Obama Presidential Center design changed after public pushback
The Architect's Newspaper
Charles A. Birnbaum, President & CEO of , countered with the following statement:
鈥淭hat鈥檚 not true. Closing Cornell Drive does not add 5.6 acres of parkland 鈥 that鈥檚 double counting. Cornell Drive, which unfortunately has been widened to six lanes, is part of the Olmsted design and is itself mapped parkland.
鈥淭he people of Chicago were told they would get a presidential library administered by the National Archives, a federal facility, in exchange for the confiscation of historic parkland, listed in the National Register of Historic Places 鈥 instead, they鈥檙e getting a privately-operated entertainment campus with a 235-foot-tall tower, a recording studio, auditorium, sports facility, and other amenities.鈥