Obama library to be located in Chicago, reports say

by Jordan Fabian - 04/30/15 8:25 PM ET

The Obama presidential library will be located in Chicago, according to media reports.

The University of Chicago reportedly beat out three other finalists that submitted bids to build the library — the University of Illinois at Chicago, Columbia University in New York and the University of Hawaii in Honolulu — according to NBC News.

An official announcement is expected in mid-May, CBS 2 Chicago reported.

{mosads}The foundation overseeing the creation of the library did not respond to a request for comment.

The Windy City, where the president and first lady lived and worked before Obama was elected to the Senate in 2004, was long considered the front-runner to land the library.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s former chief of staff, has lobbied hard for the library to be located in his city.

The president has deep ties to the University of Chicago. He taught at the university’s law school for 12 years. His former senior adviser, David Axelrod, runs the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago and attended college there.

The site selection had been delayed over concerns that the University of Chicago’s bid proposed two sites that required the acquisition of public park land. The announcement was further pushed back in March due to Chicago’s runoff mayoral election, which Emanuel won.

The Illinois state legislature last week passed a bill that would allow the library to legally be built on park land.

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