CITY HALL — The Plan Commission signed off on a controversial proposal Monday to swap South Side parkland for the Obama Presidential Library.
The commission voted unanimously to make 20 acres of both Washington and Jackson Park available to boost the University of Chicago's bid for the library.
The deal would lease 20 acres of either park to the Obama Foundation if it selects the University of Chicago as the site.
The university has insisted it needs the land to sweeten its proposal, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel has endorsed it, saying the city's proposals should be as strong as possible to bring the library to Chicago.
Timothy King, attorney for the Chicago Park District, emphasized that it was "a vote for the process to continue," and that any as-yet-unseen design aspect of the library would be back before the commission for approval.
He added that it was "necessary" to sweeten the University of Chicago's bid for the museum, which he called a "once-in-a-lifetime development."
The Park District board has already signed off on the potential transfer.
Avis LaVelle, vice president of the board, testified that previous public hearings had made it clear that "by and large" park neighbors support the project. She said the land deal provided "whatever was necessary" to win "as much consideration as possible" from the foundation.
President Barack Obama established a foundation just over a year ago to choose a site and oversee development of his library, with the University of Chicago a finalist, along with the University of Illinois at Chicago, Columbia University in New York City and the University of Hawaii in his native state.
All four aldermen with wards in the Washington and Jackson Park areas support the library and the use of parkland for it. Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th) said it would "uplift communities that have been underserved," in the process creating an estimated 3,000 construction jobs and 1,700 permanent jobs.
"We love our parks," Hairston said, "but we want to see our communities benefit."
Ald. Willie Cochran (20th) echoed that support for economic development, comparing the library to the Art Institute as a tourist attraction and "economic driver."
Aldermen Pat Dowell (3rd) and Will Burns (4th) also support locating the library on the South Side.
Yet Cassandra Francis, president of Friends of the Parks, led opponents arguing that the University of Chicago has abundant land it could use for the library without impinging on parkland.
Having already threatened to file suit against the library if it's located on public property, as the group already has with the proposed Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, she said the land swap would set a bad precedent, adding, "We have great concerns that Chicago's parkland will be available to the highest bidder in the future."
While insisting she supported bringing the library to Chicago, only not on park property, Francis said, "Tomorrow we could be discussing Lincoln Park, Garfield Park or your park elsewhere in the city."
"Parks are not land banks," said Stephanie Franklin, president of the Nichols Park Advisory Council. "It does not need to be on parkland."
City resident George Blakemore called it a "land grab" and said taxpayers were being "pimped" to pay for the library.
Cochran, however, decried the "hypocrisy" of critics as "unacceptable." He said Friends of the Parks had "neglected" Washington Park up to now, so "I can't support their position as being genuine."
"The Obama Library would improve the park," Cochran said. "We should be embracing this. Rather than fighting each other, we should be holding hands moving this forward."
According to published reports, the foundation is prepared to wait until after the April 7 mayoral runoff to name a final site, although officials with the foundation and the Emanuel campaign declined to confirm that Monday.
The land-lease measure now moves to a joint committee of the City Council on Wednesday for approval.
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