The budget for the Barack Obama Presidential Center campus in Chicago’s Jackson Park is now projected at close to $1 billion, more than double its original $350 million estimate. The latest figure from the Obama Foundation is $91 million above the September projection of $909 million, and does not include an additional $123 million in state-funded public infrastructure improvements.
The budget has grown steadily: from $350 million to $500 million when design was completed in 2017, to $850 million in early September of this year, and now to nearly $1 billion. The foundation attributes the increases to an expanded project scope, including a 60,000-sq-ft (5,570 m²) basketball facility called Home Court, public art and insurance costs.
The main building was built by Lakeside Alliance, a joint venture led by Turner Construction, while Home Court was built under a separate contract by Elevate Design Builders Group, a partnership of Bowa Construction and AECOM Hunt Construction. The foundation says it has no outstanding payment disputes with Lakeside and no direct contracts with its subcontractors, and notes that change orders are common on projects of this scale with signature architects. However, trade contractors say they were not told that part of the additional $91 million would go toward resolving pending liens and legal actions against the foundation and its contractors.
Source: Engineering News-Record (ENR)