A year ago President Barack Obama sent a video greeting to Chicago’s Chosen Few Picnic. Next year he might be there in person.
The president’s foundation has announced that the future home of the Obama Presidential Library will situated at Jackson Park – the sprawling South Side site that is home to Chicago’s Chosen Few Picnic every summer.
“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,” a statement from President Obama says. “With a center in Jackson Park, not only will we be able to affect local change, but we can attract the world to this historic neighborhood, whose rich cultural heritage dates back to the 1893 World’s Fair. 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.”
The Chosen Few just celebrated their 26th annual get together (now sprawling two days and rebranded as the Chosen Few Music Festival) in Jackson Park early in July. In May, the Chosen Few met with President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House.
Officials from the Obama Foundation, the City government, the University of Chicago and community leaders and other elected officials will be discussing the issue at a press conference next Wednesday (August 4, 2016) at the nearby Museum of Science and Industry.
