Obama presidential library to be built on Chicago's South Side

CHICAGO, April 30 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama's lasting legacy, whatever historians judge it to be, will have its footprint in Illinois -- and the epicenter will be on Chicago's South Side, sources said Thursday.

Multiple news outlets reported that the Barack Obama Presidential Library will indeed be built in perhaps the Windy City's most notorious area once the two-term commander in-chief leaves office in nine months.

The decision is viewed by many as a major score for the city -- particularly the South Side. Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Obama's former campaign manager and White House chief of staff, has been discussing the plans with Democratic leaders, CBS Chicago reported.

NBC Chicago also confirmed the report Thursday.

An official announcement is expected in two weeks, and the actual construction site is still being selected. Sources, however, say it has been narrowed to two addresses: Chicago's Washington Park or Jackson Park.

Last week, Obama reportedly informed Emanuel of his decision and thanked him for new state legislation that will allow the library to be built on public park land.

The CBS report said the library is expected to cost around $500 million, and will create nearly 2,000 permanent jobs in a section of the city infamous for its poverty and crime. The facility will also generate about $220 million in revenue annually.

"This is a real shot in the arm," city official Pat Dowell said.

Obama had also been {link:considering Honolulu and New York City for the library, as well. He was born in Hawaii and lived for a time in the Big Apple. But Obama apparently decided Chicago was the best fit, seeing as how that's where his political career started. He was also a community organizer on the South Side.

"It can be on the South Side. It can be on the West Side, but it cannot be on the Upper West Side of Manhattan," Emanuel reportedly said.

The library will operate in concert with the University of Chicago, although the University of Illinois-Chicago was also considered, NBC News said.

Last year, a professor at the University of Chicago voiced opposition to the library being built there, saying he believed it would become a liberal think tank.

Obama will formally leave office on Jan. 20, 2017.