The Slatest

Obama Presidential Library to Be in Chicago

Barack Obama walks from Marine One after speaking at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday.

Joshua Roberts-Pool/Getty Images

Barack Obama is going back to Chicago. Or, rather, his presidential library is. Jackson Park was officially selected as its site.

From NPR:

The city of Chicago prevailed over earlier proposals “by New York City, where Obama when to college, and Hawaii, where he was born,” as Reuters reported.

“Michelle and I are thrilled that the Obama Presidential Center will be developed in the heart of Chicago’s South Side, a community we call home and that means the world to us,” Obama said in a statement released by the foundation. He added: “We are proud that the center will help spur development in an urban area and we can’t wait to forge new ways to give back to the people of Chicago who have given us so much.”

Aloha, Hawaii. See ya, New York.

But good for the South Side. And the library will be but a short walk from the University of Chicago, where Obama taught law.

It is expected to be a different sort of presidential library: The Obama Foundation selected as its architects husband-and-wife team Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, who “believe that architecture is the coming together of art and use, and can bring a sense of grace to life.”