HYDE PARK — A final site for the Barack Obama Presidential Library will now be announced after the mayoral runoff election on April 7.
The Obama Foundation officials, tasked with choosing a home for the library, will now wait until after the election, two people familiar with the decision told the Associated Press.
A decision had been expected sometime in March, but there were questions about whether the foundation would move forward after Mayor Rahm Emanuel was forced into a runoff election with Jesus “Chuy” Garcia.
Garcia was initially not supportive of plans to incorporate about 20 acres of parkland into the library campus, a large component of the University of Chicago’s proposed sites in Jackson and Washington parks.
On March 2, Garcia backed down and said he would support the use of parkland if it was OK with the communities affected, but the issue became the first political clash of the runoff election.
Those close to the decision told the Associated Press that the Obama Foundation wanted to avoid injecting politics into the decision.
A spokeswoman for the Obama Foundation declined to comment and said there are no updates on the timing for the decision.
The other proposed locations include a section of city-owned land in North Lawndale, which Garcia said he personally prefers as the home of the library. Columbia University in New York City is proposing a site it owns in West Harlem and the University of Hawaii is also proposing a site.
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