Isles file pitch for Obama library

The state of Hawaii submitted a bid Friday to become the home of the Barack Obama Presidential Library, officials said.

The "request for qualifications" submittal ­­— the first step in what’s expected to be a heated competition for the library — included such information as site details, transportation access and community information designed to demonstrate a capacity to successfully build and maintain a presidential library.

Officials declined to comment on the bid Friday but have previously described a proposed location: an 8-acre site near Kaka­­­ako Waterfront Park. The complex, as described, would include a presidential center with a Convening Institute think tank, where Obama would bring together world leaders to discuss global issues and explore ways to address them, and an Education Academy, where research would focus on leadership and issues involving learning from the preschool level to the 12th grade.

Officials from the state where Obama was born and graduated from high school contend one of the strengths of their proposal is the nearly universal support of leaders from across the state.

Meanwhile, five separate proposals are expected from the Chicago area and one from Columbia University in New York. In Chicago the submissions are coming from three universities, a community organization and a real estate developer.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel had initially sought to consolidate the Windy City proposals into a single bid but ultimately decided stay neutral for now. But he has expressed a preference for the city’s South Side, where Obama began his quest for the White House.

The University of Chicago, where Obama spent 12 years as a law professor, is proposing three South Side sites off campus. It will be competing against Chicago State University, a community group in the Bronzeville neighborhood and a real estate developer who wants the complex as part of a retail and residential development on the former site of a U.S. Steel plant. All four locations are in South Chicago.

Another bid is being submitted by the University of Illinois at Chicago, west of downtown.

Hawaii officials have said that while they are planning to submit a full and complete bid that aims to place the entire library in Hono­­lulu, they are willing to work with any other institution or city if Obama chooses to split up the complex.

In January, Gov. Neil Abercrombie and Hono­­lulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell met separately in Hawaii with University of Chicago officials to discuss the library and what could be done to work together.

In calling for the bids with a deadline of Monday, the Barack Obama Foundation said it envisions a library that is an "international destination" reflecting the president’s values and priorities, including "expanding economic opportunity, inspiring an ethic of American citizenship, and promoting peace, justice, and dignity throughout the world."

Bids are required to have four hard copies in bound, 81⁄2-by-11-inch books. Those who make the cut will be invited to submit formal proposals later this summer. A site is expected to be chosen in early 2015.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.