ABC7 takes you inside for a look at one of the highlights of the President Barack Obama's museum in Jackson Park.
Monday, May 18, 2026 11:16PMA select few have been inside the Obama Presidential Center on Chicago's South Side. On Monday, ABC7 takes you inside for a look at one of the highlights of the President Barack Obama 's museum in Jackson Park .
CEO Obama Foundation Valerie Jarrett invited ABC7 into the Oval Office on Monday. It is a replica of the office during Obama's two terms inside the Obama Presidential Center. Jarrett was a senior advisor to Obama when he was president.
"Even I, who lived this for eight years, forgets some stuff, and I'll look at an exhibit and say, 'Ah yeah, I remember that,'" Jarrett said. This is among the exhibits at the center that visitors will be able to see. They can even sit in Obama's chair and see the letter President Bush left in the desk for him.
The foundation has hired about 500 people for the center's operation and hundreds of others constructed the buildings in Jackson Park. Jarrett says many of those hired for the $800 million project were from Chicago's South and West sides. This will be the first U.S. presidential archive that is fully accessible online. For those coming to the center, tickets for the Museum are sold out through Aug. 10, but more will be released over time.
Jarrett says visiting with a ticket or reservation on an Illinois free day in person is meant not just to look back, but to look forward.
"This is the permanent home for hope. Hope is not easy, Leah. Hope is hard, particularly during challenging times," Jarrett said.
"Yes, things are tough right now, but they've been tough before, and people sacrificed for us greatly for us all to have the opportunities that we had, and so, what do we do with that opportunity? " As the staff tweaks things inside during the soft opening, work continues outside the finish the hardscaping and landscaping of the center's 19 acres.
Choose Chicago and Big Bus tours just announcedAlong with traveling to the Obama Center, the shuttle service will also go to the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry.
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