Obama Presidential Center contributes just $1M to $470M reserve fund meant to protect taxpayers

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: When the Obama Foundation scored its sweetheart deal to plop the long-delayed Obama Presidential Center in Chicago’s Jackson Park, it vowed to protect taxpayers by setting up a $470 million reserve fund. It was a financial cushion in case the whole project went bust.

But new tax filings reveal the foundation has only stashed $1 million in that pot and hasn’t added a dime in years. Critics warn that broken promises could leave Chicagoans footing the bill for hundreds of millions.

Costs for Obama Presidential Center have ballooned to at least $850 million

Under its agreement with the city, the foundation was supposed to create this endowment to take control of 19.3 acres of Jackson Park — the South Side’s version of Central Park. They acquired the land for just $10 in 2018, securing it for 99 years.

By the time Barack and Michelle Obama grabbed the golden shovels for the 2021 groundbreaking, only $1 million (or 0.21% of the pledged fund) was sitting in the account. That figure hasn’t budged since.

Meanwhile, construction costs ballooned from $330 million to at least $850 million, while progress drags along at a snail’s pace. Critics say that without the promised reserve, taxpayers may get stuck holding the bag if finances unravel.

To make matters worse, the foundation’s tax returns show shaky finances as indicated by big swings in revenue, donors falling short, and pledges that haven’t materialized.

Republicans worry Obama Presidential Center could leave taxpayers high and dry

The news sparked fury among Illinois Republicans.

Party chair Kathy Salvi said, "It should come as no surprise that the Obama Center is potentially leaving Illinois taxpayers high and dry — it’s an Illinois Democrat tradition. Democrats in this state, when not going to prison for corruption, treat taxpayers like a personal piggy bank, giving sweetheart deals to their political benefactors."

Meanwhile, longtime critic Richard Epstein, a University of Chicago law professor emeritus who has advised the nonprofit Protect Our Parks, says he’s been sounding the alarm for years.

"They put a million dollars into a $400 million endowment, so it’s endowed. That gets you in jail as a securities matter," Epstein told Fox News. "An endowment means that you have the money in hand. But they have nothing. They just have the same $1 million that they put in in 2021, as far as I can tell. So, I regard this as something of a public calamity."

Epstein explained that an endowment is supposed to spin off interest to cover operating costs, which are estimated at $30 million a year.

"Without an endowment, they’ll have to scramble every year to cover $30 million in operating costs," he said. "The whole point of an endowment is to avoid that volatility. They just haven’t endowed it. Of that I’m 100% sure."

If the foundation falters, Epstein warns taxpayers could be stuck with traffic rerouting costs, environmental damage, or even the tab for an unfinished building.

"Nobody knows exactly who is responsible for what if the project is abandoned or incomplete," he said. "There is a risk that the public will then have to bear that loss because the foundation won’t have the money."

Epstein claims the city has looked the other way, rubber-stamping the foundation as "compliant" despite the stagnant $1 million.

Obama Foundation says center is fully funded

The Obama Foundation seems confident the center will open in spring 2026.

"The Obama Presidential Center is fully funded, and it will open in the spring of 2026," a spokesperson told Fox News, adding that the group will make "significant investments in the endowment in the coming years" after prioritizing construction and leadership programs.

Watchdogs like CharityWatch back up the foundation, at least technically. Since the city never set a dollar figure for the endowment, the foundation has complied. They remain "well-funded," the group said, though it admitted the pledge risks and volatility are real.

That $470 million number came from the foundation itself in a 2020 annual report, while the city council was hammering out the deal. But 2021 documents estimated first-year operating costs at $40 million, meaning the center might actually need a reserve of $800 million to $1 billion to be truly self-sustaining.

For now, the center’s finances remain dicey. The foundation has already poured $600 million into the complex, which will feature a 225-foot-tall museum, digital library, conference facilities, gym, NBA court, and offices for the foundation.

But new filings show they ended 2024 with $116.5 million in cash (down nearly $80 million from the year before) and still owe $234 million in construction costs. Of that, $216 million comes from firm pledges, and another $201 million is tied up in conditional pledges. These promises could easily vanish if goals aren’t met.