CHICAGO _ In a major setback to plans to build the Obama Presidential Center on Chicago's South Side lakefront, a federal judge ruled Tuesday that a lawsuit challenging its location can proceed.
In a written decision, U.S. Judge John Robert Blakey said the environmental group Protect Our Parks has enough legal ground to bring some of its objections before him. Blakey did toss out parts of the lawsuit filed against the city of Chicago and the park district.
The ruling to allow the suit to proceed is significant because it could delay construction for months, if not years, and potentially raise the question of whether the $500 million sprawling presidential campus can even be built on lakefront property in Jackson Park.
The matter has been closely watched because it is reminiscent of the court case that killed the $400 million museum proposed by "Star Wars" creator George Lucas. In that case, Lucas and his team didn't wait for a judgment, and decided to move his Museum of Narrative Art to Los Angeles.
The lawsuit challenging the presidential center was filed in May by the leaders of Protect Our Parks and three other plaintiffs. In their suit, the environmentalists called the presidential center an "institutional bait-and-switch." The Obama Foundation isn't named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
Instead, the lawsuit targets the city of Chicago and the Chicago Park District, arguing that the presidential center is not the same as a presidential library and should not be granted access to public land.
Through their legal actions, lawyers for the environmentalists have examined how the Jackson Park site was selected, who the decision-makers are and what other site options were evaluated.
The presidential center project has been widely supported by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the city council on the basis that it could transform struggling neighborhoods by luring tourist dollars and other investors to the South Side. It is the largest private investment of its kind made on the South Side in decades, Emanuel has said.
The proposed center would take up about 19.3 acres of the 500-acre Jackson Park. The center would honor the country's first African-American president and would have three buildings that would contain a museum, meeting rooms, an athletic center and a public library branch. Supporters of the project say it would create about 2,500 permanent jobs.
The foundation said Jackson Park was selected so that the campus would connect to the Museum of Science and Industry. The state is expected to spend about $175 million in roadway adjustments and infrastructure improvements to make way for the center.
Since the lawsuit was filed, the city council approved the construction permits. It also approved a use agreement that outlined that the city would own the property but the foundation would pay for its upkeep and have limited use of the buildings.
But from the time it was proposed, the presidential center project has also revealed deep, sensitive community divisions along racial and class lines.
The main backers of the lawsuit are two white residents _ one who lives on the North Side and the other in the northern suburbs. They've indicated their motivation is to protect park land and green space. They also want to keep a pathway available for migratory birds.
The environmentalists have said they want the presidential center built on the South Side. But they'd prefer it be placed elsewhere and suggest a piece of vacant property located in a more desolate, lower-income neighborhood near Washington Park.
Meanwhile, a collective of grassroots activists who represent longtime working-class and lower-income African-Americans have pushed for a community benefits agreement essentially promising jobs, property tax breaks and other protections to local residents.
At the same time, some financially stable South Siders celebrated the project, hoping it will bring an unprecedented amenity to a historic African-American community, raise stagnant property values and possibly infuse the neighborhood with visitors who would patronize local businesses.
Besides the lawsuit, the project still has to finish a federal review process that already has been delayed.
The foundation has said it wants to break ground this year, but with the lingering issues, there is no concrete date set. The foundation has not revealed if it has a design prepared for another location.
