Federal Appeals Court Rules Obama Center Project May Proceed
A federal appeals court has ruled that the under-construction Obama Center may remain in the South Side’s Jackson Park, affirming a ruling in March by U.S. District Judge Robert Blakey. The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit represents another defeat for nonprofit Protect Our Parks, which sought a preliminary injunction in its appeal to the 7th Circuit.
Protect Our Parks issued a lawsuit in 2018 over environmental concerns. The nonprofit subsequently argued that Chicago and other government entities performed “inadequate” environmental reviews.
However, 7th Circuit Judge Dianne Wood wrote that while Protect Our Parks was correct that federal agencies didn’t weigh alternative museum sites in conducting environmental assessments, “none of the federal defendants had anything to do with the site selection — it was the city that chose Jackson Park, and the federal agencies had (and have) no authority to move the project elsewhere.”
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