Hawaii officials say they remain optimistic Honolulu will end up with at least a part of the Barack Obama presidential library despite recent signs that the president’s foundation is working with Chicago to help put its best foot forward.
"We’ve always been confident we will get a component that could be used as a base of operation as part of the presidential library," University of Hawaii spokesman Dan Meisenzahl said Monday. "Of course, confidence is only as good as until the official announcement comes out."
The latest sign that Chicago has the inside track comes with word that Obama is holding off announcing the library’s location until after Chicago’s runoff election for mayor, according to the Associated Press.
The reason, according to a report that quotes two people who asked to remain anonymous, is to avoid politicizing the project.
Last year the Barack Obama Foundation said the president and first lady Michelle Obama would announce the location by the end of March, after proposals are screened by the foundation. The foundation’s website still says the winning bid will be announced in the first quarter of 2015, which ends March 31.
But with the outcome of the Chicago race uncertain and the Obama library emerging as an issue in the campaign, the announcement apparently is no longer expected until after the April 7 runoff.
The University of Hawaii, with backing from leaders across the state, is competing against the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois at Chicago and Columbia University in New York. Formal bids were submitted in December.
However, there is growing evidence to indicate that Chicago — and the University of Chicago in particular — has the upper hand:
» The foundation in January let it be known that it was concerned the University of Chicago could not assure access to the South Side park land where it wants to build the library. That gave Mayor Rahm Emanuel time to orchestrate a plan to have the Chicago Park District board transfer 20 acres to the city for the library’s use.
» The foundation last month commissioned polling to see whether residents support building the library on the South Side.
Meisenzahl wouldn’t say whether the president’s foundation had made any formal requests or taken any actions that might indicate a special interest in Hawaii’s bid.
"We want to respect the process," he said.
Asked about the situation, Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui responded with a statement: "We are honored that Hawaii is one of the finalists for the Barack Obama Presidential Center and hope to partner with the Barack Obama Foundation in developing a dynamic institution that will honor the president’s legacy."
Meisenzahl said officials still believe there will be good news for Hawaii when the announcement comes.
"We’re confident we’re going to have some kind of role in support of the center and library," he said.
Hawaii officials previously said that while their bid aims for the entire library complex, they would be happy with only part of it. They said they have engaged in informal discussions with each of the finalists about the possibility of collaborating.
Hawaii’s proposal, underwritten by $390,000 in state Legislature-approved funding, calls for an "action-oriented and education-based" presidential center on 8 acres of Hawaii Community Development Authority land in Kakaako near the ocean.
The full complex would feature an interactive museum, visitor center and presidential archive, plus a convening institute where world leaders could discuss global problems, a leadership academy focusing on issues related to schoolchildren, and a UH center for community organizing, which is designed to appeal to Obama, a former community organizer in Chicago.
University consultants figure the complex, if built in its entirety, would generate $25 million to $40 million in state and city tax revenue and more than $2 billion in new economic activity in its first decade.
According to the Obama Foundation, the president is looking to build a complex with three parts: library, museum and foundation, which is described as "a grass-roots organization with global impact."
"Multimedia exhibitions will interpret what Obama’s historic presidency meant to America and the world," the foundation’s website says, and "ongoing programming will serve as a launchpad for a new generation of active citizens."
