‘Is That How You Want To Be Remembered?’: Obamas Under Fire for Obama Presidential Center Plans

Weasel Zippers refers to the place as "an indoctrination center for progressives" One hopes it has a map of every country that Obama has apologized to and/or bowed before their leader.

Obamas criticized for lavish library plans, including 'test kitchen'

• "Reports first surfaced last fall that the monument to the first black president’s legacy was taking on an activity-center vibe. There would be a museum – but also a basketball court, possibly a room for yoga classes, and a test kitchen to teach visitors “about the full production cycle of nutritious food.”

Western Journalism  "The Obama Presidential Center in Chicago has yet to break ground, however, plans for the building have already caused backlash toward the former president and the building’s planners.

"A “test kitchen” proposed in the monument’s plans are at the center of the multiple critiques hurled toward the planners.

"As noted by Fox News, in late-2017 there were reports that the monument would include a museum, a basketball court, a room for yoga and a test kitchen to teach visitors about the importance of a healthy diet.

"The latter was panned by Chicago Tribune columnist Ron Grossman who chided the president for the lackluster additions proposed for the center in a piece titled, “Please, Mr. Obama, skip the test kitchen, make it a museum.”

“ 'My problem isn’t the design, though the centerpiece is a tower, heavy around the midsection and tapering to a narrow top and bottom. To me, it evokes a soft-boiled egg in a giant eggcup,” Grossman wrote.

“ 'What brought me up short was a space in the adjoining Forum building labeled ‘test kitchen,'” he continued. “Presumably that reflects Michelle Obama’s war on junk food. The museum’s champions similarly suggest it could host yoga classes.' ” . . .

Thomas Lifson: Plans revised for 'Obama Presidential Center': Taller, uglier, and a little bit less white   . . . "The failure of the citizenry to unite in praise and awe – there has been a firestorm of criticism – has led Obama Foundation officials to go and hire as their lawyer Langdon Neal, a man described in 2016 by the Chicago Sun-Times as the "Chicago machine's $99[-]million man," "one of the city's most politically connected lawyers," who "has made a fortune helping City Hall and other governments condemn land for schools, police stations, McCormick Place, O'Hare Airport expansion."  A few years ago, the Chicago Reader wrote:

It's not literally true that Langdon Neal and his law firm are involved in every major political deal in Chicago.  But sometimes it seems that way.

"Just the kind of guy to overcome the community organizations (savor the irony!) who have objected to the grandiose monument that would steal park land and threaten a critical bird habitat.  Oh, and by the way, in addition to being a fixer for land developers, Langdon Neal is chairman of the Cook County Board of Elections." . . .

Mr. Lifson also wrote: Obama non-library 'presidential center' in Chicago devolving into a fiasco    . . . "But Jackson Park, whose land is being appropriated, is also a park, designed by the great Frederick Law Olmstead, and occupies a premier Lakefront site.  No less than the Midway, it is a precious legacy of the "City Beautiful" movement of the late nineteenth century that transformed Chicago from a raw and often ugly product of rapid growth into a rival of Paris when it comes to parks and vistas.  An open letter from over one hundred faculty members of the University of Chicago, which neighbors the Obama monument along with the Museum of Science and Industry, lays out these concerns: . . ."