Obama Center’s $470 Million Safety Net Still Empty as Contractors Say They’re Owed Millions
Concern is growing around the Obama Presidential Center as critics say the project still lacks the $470 million reserve fund that was supposed to protect taxpayers if financial trouble ever hit.
That concern is not happening in a vacuum. A Fox News Digital investigation found multiple contractors and subcontractors claiming they lost anywhere from hundreds of thousands of dollars to millions on the project. Some say they are still stuck in payment disputes just days before the center’s grand opening.
Under its deal with the city, the Obama Foundation pledged to create the fund, known as an endowment, as part of a 99-year agreement to control the publicly owned 19.3-acre section of Jackson Park. The price for that land control was a one-time payment of just $10.
Fox News Digital previously reported that the foundation had placed just $1 million into the reserve fund in 2021. Its most recent publicly available filings showed the balance had remained largely unchanged.
The project’s finances have been under pressure for years. Construction delays and rising costs pushed the price tag from an original estimate of roughly $330 million to at least $850 million based on 2021 figures. An updated final cost has not been made public.
Illinois GOP Chair Robert Grogan said the empty fund is a major concern.
“One of their core promises was they were supposed to create an endowment as basically an insurance policy so the taxpayers wouldn’t get stuck with the bill,” Illinois GOP Chair Robert Grogan told Fox News Digital outside the center last week as worker vehicles entered and exited the center.
“They promised hundreds of millions of dollars for it. It’s still sitting at the $1 million mark [where it stood] when they opened it up. So I don’t believe that they’ve kept that promise.”
Grogan said the contractor disputes make the situation even more troubling.
“The fact that they have created this probably unsustainable edifice to an ego and then, eventually, if it goes under, who’s going to be caught with the bill time and time again? It’s the taxpayers of the city, citizens of Chicago and the state of Illinois.”
Richard Epstein, a New York University law professor who has challenged the project in court for years, said the reserve was supposed to be a real backstop.
“The whole point of an endowment is to fund future expenses,” Epstein told Fox News Digital, adding that the endowment acts as a financial backup if future fundraising falls short.
“If the endowment hasn’t been filled, the building [could] fall into neglect, it then becomes a safety risk, and it turns out that nobody’s going to pay the bill,” Epstein said. “The city therefore, is going to have to assume additional obligations to make sure that thing is kept in place.”
Grogan also said the reports of unpaid contractors should not be brushed aside and called for an investigation if the claims prove true.
The Fox News Digital investigation identified several firms that say they were left with major losses. Outside the center last week, Adamson Plumbing President Mike Owen showed company spreadsheets that he said put his firm nearly $4 million in the red. He said unnecessary rework, delays and more than 100 change-order requests forced his company to absorb millions in extra costs.
Omar Shareef, president of the African American Contractors Association, also told Fox News Digital that several Black-owned contractors are in financial trouble because of the project.
The endowment was meant to serve as a permanent source of income and help cover future operating costs. The Obama Foundation disputes the idea that taxpayers face exposure and says the project is funded through private contributions.
But with the opening approaching, the empty reserve fund and the ongoing payment fights are keeping the pressure on.