Obama ultimately decided to build on 19.3 choice acres in historic Jackson Park, designed in 1871 by great American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted.

By that time, Obama’s “library” designation had been ditched because federal law imposes strict limitations on the size of presidential libraries.

Freed of those restrictionss, the Obama Foundation unveiled a new plan with a 235-foot tower, joined by three other buildings.

…

But its 2020 Annual Report estimated that it needed close to $1 billion in new funds to finish construction and cover the costs of maintenance, operation, and improvement of the structure.

With little money in the bank, the foundation saw total fundraising shrink from $171 million in 2020 to $159 million in 2021, well below the 2017 high of $232 million.

The OPC could end up underwater both physically and financially, which is why the 2021 Annual Report does not mention these touchy funding issues.

— “An Epic Blunder” | City-Journal | 9/13/22 | Richard A. Epstein

In case you’re wondering, the author of this has not killed himself yet.