00:00This is a historic day for the city of Chicago.
00:02I want to begin by thanking the President and the First Lady
00:06for choosing to build a library in their hometown, the city of Chicago.
00:11I'm here at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago,
00:14which opens to the public on June 19.
00:16The 19-acre campus includes a children's playground,
00:19a Chicago public library branch,
00:21and of course, the museum that you can see behind me.
00:24The Obama Center isn't just a presidential museum.
00:27It's a public space surrounded by walking trails and gardens
00:30in Chicago's historic Jackson Park.
00:32Unlike other presidential libraries,
00:34it is not operated by the National Archives,
00:35so you won't find the original documents
00:37that are usually found at those libraries.
00:39That's because in 2017,
00:41the Obama Foundation made the decision
00:43not to build a traditional library for paper records
00:45and instead provided funding to digitize them.
00:48It's the first presidential library to do this.
00:51Digitizing the material makes it accessible
00:53from anywhere by anyone.
00:54It also makes the library feel more like a museum
00:57and community space.
00:58For now, the center is featuring some original material,
01:01which is on loan from the archives.
01:02Construction began on the center in 2021,
01:04and it opens nine years after Obama left office.
01:07The $850 million campus was privately funded by donors.
01:11Chicago was one of several cities
01:12Obama considered for the project.
01:14He selected Jackson Park as its final location,
01:16where it now stands.
01:17He said the project only made sense in the place
01:19where he got his start as a community organizer
01:21in 1985 on Chicago's south side.
01:23Obama will christen the opening of the campus himself,
01:26but the celebration is set
01:27against an unusually sharp contrast.
01:29As Obama opens the doors
01:31to his first attempt at defining his legacy,
01:34President Donald Trump has sought to undo
01:35or weaken many signature policy achievements
01:38of the Obama era.
01:39And while Trump is not invited to the opening ceremony,
01:42Obama Foundation CEO Valerie Jarrett
01:45recently extended a public invitation
01:46for him to tour the center.
01:48The Obama Center will become
01:49the 14th presidential museum,
01:51commemorating the life, legacy,
01:52and historic importance
01:53of the first black president of the United States.
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