While the Obama Presidential Center is rising in Chicago’s Jackson Park, a closely related project favored by the former president continues to languish.
Backers still hope to resurrect the grand plan for a new professional tournament-quality course next door, but with little progress, residents remain anxiously waiting for restoration of two existing courses.
In 2016, then-Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced plans for a new PGA-caliber golf course next to the planned presidential library. The proposal was backed by the clout of the former president and golf superstar Tiger Woods, whom Obama asked to design the course.
Nearly seven years later, the plan to combine and rebuild Jackson Park and South Shore golf courses appears to have ground to a halt, with little governmental involvement and almost no money.
The grand vision reached this impasse through a lack of political support, a dearth of fundraising and the effects of a pandemic. Regardless of whether the plan materializes, supporters maintain the need has never been greater to restore the historical courses to a point where they can support not only golfers, but jobs and youth participation.
“There’s no money to do that,” Louise McCurry, part of the recently formed Jackson Park Conservancy, said of the new golf course. “We have this wonderful resource, but we need to upgrade it and make it a place everyone can enjoy.”
Questions arose about the future of the project recently after Valerie Jarrett, CEO of the Obama Foundation, told Crain’s Chicago Business that the foundation was not pursuing the project, and she had only heard “rumors” that the golf course project was still alive.
The foundation issued a statement that it has always been “supportive” of investments in the community and Jackson Park, but that the foundation is “singularly focused” on completing the presidential center, to open in 2025.
Tiger Woods’ planning firm, TGR Design, had produced and refined a plan to combine the 27 existing holes into one much longer 18-hole course. When contacted by the Tribune, TGR referred questions about the project to the Chicago Park District, which included the proposal in its South Lakefront Framework Plan.
Parks spokeswoman Michele Lemons declined a request for an interview about it, but wrote in an email to the Tribune, “There have been no recent discussions so the Park District has no updated information to share.”
The Chicago Parks Golf Alliance, a tax-exempt not-for-profit led by local attorney Brian Hogan and NBC Sports commentator Mark Rolfing, and backed by course developer Mike Keiser, which spearheaded the project, declined to comment. Its website is down, and its last Facebook update was from more than three years ago.
The group was tasked with raising private donations for the originally estimated $30 million cost of the upgrade. Its most recent publicly available IRS filing showed annual fundraising had dried up to less than $50,000 in gross receipts. The group previously had raised more than $1.2 million, but after expenditures including professional and management fees, by 2021, only about $350,000 remained.
The site, with views of the downtown skyline and on the shores of Lake Michigan, was envisioned as a sort of Pebble Beach of the Midwest, in reference to the famous seaside course in California.
But after Lori Lightfoot replaced Emanuel as mayor in 2019, advocates said, progress ground to a halt. Lightfoot said she had concerns about “red flags,” telling the Sun-Times, “It’s not a well-thought-out plan.”
The project also was left dangling while the Obama center was delayed for years by litigation, and is still seeking donations while its $800 million library is under construction. The city administration also was busy dealing with fallout following the pandemic and George Floyd protests, with closed schools and rising crime.
The Jackson Park Golf Association expressed its support for the Woods plan in 2017, saying restoration is badly needed, and hoping a pro tournament would provide an economic boost to the area, as the BMW Championship has in the suburbs.
While skeptics have questioned how average duffers would afford a top-flight golf course, supporters expressed confidence in the Park District’s pledge to keep greens fees below $50 for residents, while nonresidents might pay as much as $300.
Other residents raised objections, saying it was unrealistic to combine a challenging PGA-level course with an affordable public course for casual and beginner golfers. There was also concern about the expected loss of hundreds of mature trees and habitat in the South Shore Nature Sanctuary, prompting designers to say they would expand natural areas and plant new trees.
Opponents say the true costs would be far higher, including an estimated $30 million for two proposed underpasses. The Park District’s plans also call for a $28 million restoration of the nearby shoreline.
Originally, groundbreaking on the golf course was hoped for in 2017, with opening in 2020, but that never happened.
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Golf consultant Bill Daniels, who founded Golf Chicago magazine, calls the PGA-level makeover a “bad idea,” saying a course restoration would make more sense as a training facility.
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“It seems like it’s dead in the water, but we’re worried this is the beast that won’t die,” Daniels said. “There’s always that possibility until someone drives a stake through its heart.”
Brenda Nelms, co-president of Jackson Park Watch, said a course restoration should be aimed at community golfers. She called the Tiger Woods plan an unfeasible “pipe dream” that the Park District should give up.
“My fear is they’ll dither and nothing will have been done to improve things,” she said. “So I hope there can be a plan B.”
As the long delay continues, the Jackson Park Golf Association supports restoration of the course, but members aren’t waiting for a resolution. Leagues and clubs continue to play there, holding special events, introducing underrepresented kids to the game, and offering caddying jobs and scholarships.
Tracy Raoul, the golf association’s chairperson, said investment is crucial to revitalizing the community.
“There’s so much negativity, it’s sad no one comes to see the progress and positive activities we’re doing at the park,” she said. “We will continue to do what we can to keep the course playable, accessible and hopefully affordable. Whatever happens one way or the other, we’re going to play golf.”
rmccoppin@chicagotribune.com
