Bureaucrats hide true price of Obama Presidential Center as taxpayers hit with infrastructure bill

Obama Presidential Center taxpayers face hundreds of millions in infrastructure costs with no federal agency tracking total public spending on the project. Politics Bureaucrats hide true price of Obama Presidential Center as taxpayers hit with infrastructure bill A Fox News Digital investigation reveals that multiple agencies were unable to provide consolidated totals for public infrastructure being built to support the center By Michael Dorgan Fox News Published February 21, 2026 6:23am EST Facebook Twitter Threads Flipboard Comments Print Email Add Fox News on Google close Video Drone footage captures construction of Obama Presidential Center in Chicago Drone video shows the Obama Presidential Center under construction in Chicago’s Jackson Park, where crews continue work on the museum tower and campus. (Credit: Fox Flight Team) NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! FIRST ON FOX: Former President Barack Obama once declared that his presidential center would be a "gift" to Chicago, but taxpayers are on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in hidden costs related to the beleaguered project. A Fox News Digital investigation shows taxpayers are now stuck footing the bill for surging public infrastructure costs required to support the project — and no government agency can provide an accounting of the total public cost, despite months of queries and FOIA requests. "Illinois Republicans saw this coming a mile away. Now, right on cue, Illinois Democrats are leaving taxpayers high and dry and putting them on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars to support the ugliest building in Chicago," Illinois GOP Chair Kathy Salvi told Fox News Digital. "Illinois’ culture of corruption is humming along with pay-to-play deals to their allies and friends while lying to Illinois voters." When the project was approved in 2018, Obama pledged to privately fund construction of the expansive 19.3-acre campus in historic Jackson Park through donations to the Obama Foundation – a commitment that remains in place as the center’s construction continues to be privately financed. But the extensive infrastructure required to make the campus operationally viable — including redesigned roads, stormwater systems, and relocated utilities — is publicly financed, and without those changes, the center could not function. At the time, projections placed public infrastructure costs at roughly $350 million, split between the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago.OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER DEPOSITS JUST $1M INTO $470M RESERVE FUND AIMED TO PROTECT TAXPAYERS Former President Barack Obama once professed that his presidential center would be a "gift" to Chicago. Animated GIF showing the Obama Presidential Center under construction alongside a static image of former President Barack Obama. (Fox Flight Team; Getty) Eight years later, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) told Fox News Digital that approximately $229 million in infrastructure spending was tied to the site, up from its earlier estimate of roughly $174 million. The $229 million figure reflects state-managed spending, which may include federal transportation funds routed through IDOT. Meanwhile, Chicago officials have failed to produce a reconciled total showing how much city taxpayers have committed or how current spending compares to the roughly $175 million discussed when the project was approved.A paper trail without a total Fox News Digital submitted records requests and press inquiries to every agency involved in the infrastructure work, including the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), Chicago’s Department of Transportation (CDOT), the Office of Budget and Management (OBM), the Mayor’s Office and Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration.Not a single office provided a unified, up-to-date accounting of total public infrastructure spending tied to the project. The investigation involved months of FOIA requests, partial disclosures and repeated follow-ups.No single agency appears to oversee the full scope of the infrastructure work, and neither the state nor the city has assembled a reconciled accounting — a fragmentation that has made the overall public cost difficult to determine. Instead, agencies provided partial figures, declined to clarify whether city and state totals overlap or insisted that no consolidated total exists.The Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor (PAC) is reviewing whether multiple agencies complied with state transparency laws following Fox News Digital FOIA requests. Exterior view of the Obama Presidential Center tower under construction in Chicago. (Fox 32 Chicago)Construction costs soarThe center sits on 19 acres of historic public parkland carved out in a controversial transfer for just $10 under a 99-year agreement, making the question of public infrastructure spending particularly sensitive. Legal challenges to the land transfer, including lawsuits arguing the arrangement was not in the public interest, were ultimately dismissed, although the merits of the arguments were not adjudicated on. The center — though commonly referred to as a presidential "library" —