January 10, 2018 | Read Time: 1 minute
Barack Obama’s Presidential Center will include a 235-foot-tall tower designed to represent hands coming together, a women’s garden, a sledding hill, a civil-rights museum, and a library, according to design plans released Wednesday by the Obama Foundation.
The tower, the centerpiece of the project, will be “a form representing ascension, hope, and what ordinary people have the power to do together,” the former president said in a video statement.
He added, “You should know that when I was younger, I went through a phase when I wanted to be an architect. So as you can imagine, I’ve been pretty hands-on in the process.”
The foundation plans to break ground on the center on the South Side of Chicago in late 2018 and open its doors in 2021, according to a news release.
“I am proud of our team’s work over the last year to create a center that the South Side, greater Chicago community, and visitors across the globe can take pride in,” said Martin Nesbitt, chairman of the board of the Obama Foundation.
