When Barack Obama announced the location of his presidential center, it was described as a "gift" to residents.
Well, a decade later, the center is still not done, and now taxpayers are getting hit with a surprise bill.
Reports recently revealed that there are significant infrastructure costs related to the project that are coming out of taxpayer funding, not the center.
I don’t know that we have ever or will ever see a presidential project that costs as much as Obama’s ode to himself.
The $800 million project is nearly a decade in the making, and some would consider it more of an eyesore than a “gift.”
Even so, Obama’s cheerleaders say this is a historic building that will leave its mark on our country’s history.
One of the lead architects of the building, Billie Tsien, of New York-based Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, stated, “What we did realize is that in 50 years, when none of us are here, people will want to pay homage [to Obama’s presidency]. And I think that they’ll want to feel like this was an important time; that this was an important man. This was a crucial time in the history of our country. Therefore, the building needs to have a kind of power to it.”
Last week, the presidential center had text wrapped around the top of the building, but it was so small that it came under fire again.
Chicago Sun-Times architecture critic Lee Bay posted, “I’m outside the Obama Center museum tower right now.”
He continued, “The new letters – an excerpt from Obama’s Selma speech – are tough to read to me, giving off the lorem ipsum vibes.”
It was far from the only critique of the center, which has been criticized more than applauded over the last few years. This was nothing, however, compared to the report that just broke.
There are significant infrastructure improvements that were part of the plan, but that funding is not coming from Obama’s donors, but rather the city and state, including some federal taxpayer money.
Illinois GOP Chair Kathy Salvi stated, "Illinois Republicans saw this coming a mile away. Now, right on cue, Illinois Democrats are leaving taxpayers high and dry and putting them on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars to support the ugliest building in Chicago.”
She continued, "Illinois’ culture of corruption is humming along with pay-to-play deals to their allies and friends while lying to Illinois voters."
Original estimates had infrastructure changes directly related to the center at $174 million, but that number has now reportedly risen to $229 million, and that is just the state spending. Chicago is on the hook for at least $175 million. That surely does not seem like a “gift” to me.
