Obama Presidential Symposium Spurs Intense Community Discussion

Birnbaum opened the evening by discussing the park’s tangible features, citing his work in landscape preservation and urban design. He emphasized the loss that donating public space in Jackson Park to the Obama Foundation, a private organization, constitutes for the South Side as well as the danger it presents for other public parks.

“The University of Chicago, Mayor Emanuel, the Chicago Park Board, the Obama Foundation and others have set a bad and frankly dangerous precedent by taking parkland held in public trust for the Center,” Birnbaum said.