'Fox & Friends Weekend' co-hosts express strong disapproval of the Obama Presidential Center's design and execution. They label the Chicago-based project an 'architectural abomination' and the 'ugliest monstrosity' seen, highlighting local residents' initial opposition.
The Obama Presidential Center is opening to the public on Friday morning following an expensive and controversy-laden construction history.
Former President Barack Obama’s presidential center was initially estimated to cost $350 million; however, after a slate of setbacks and delays, the price of the project has more than doubled to a staggering $850 million. As construction was ongoing in Chicago, the center faced an array of controversies, including opposition from locals, anger over the use of tax dollars to support surrounding infrastructure, critiques of the building’s design, alleged failure to pay contractors and even a lawsuit alleging racial discrimination.
Unlike a traditional presidential library, the Obama Presidential Center is designed as a broader civic campus, with a museum, public plaza, forum, Chicago Public Library branch, recreation space, gardens and community programming.
"It’s a monstrosity. It’s over budget, it’s taking way too long to finish and it’s going to drive up prices and bring headaches and problems for everyone who lives here," one Chicago resident who grew up in the area near the campus' location told the Daily Mail. "It feels like a washing away of the neighborhood and culture that used to be here."
CHICAGO RESIDENTS CALL OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER A 'MONSTROSITY,' FEAR THEY'LL BE DISPLACED: REPORT
The Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park on Chicago's South Side will open this week. (Fox Flight Team)
One of the most prominent lines of criticism levied against the new presidential center was that its construction materially harm
