The Obama Foundation announced new details of Home Court, an athletic, programs and event facility that will be part of Obama Presidential Center. The 19.3-acre Obama Presidential Center is being constructed in Chicago’s Jackson Park, and Home Court will be the largest gathering space on the campus. It will serve as a place for health and wellness activities, events and a wide range of opportunities for community engagement.

© Obama Foundation

As a 45,000-square-foot multipurpose athletic and events space, Home Court will feature a gymnasium with a regulation-sized NBA court with intersecting practice courts, flexible seating, exercise training space and fitness equipment. This space will accommodate everything from enriching basketball and other sports programs to large events and formal banquets. A mezzanine level overlooks the space and provides additional seating for an intimate spectator experience. An expansive, east-facing glass façade, fritted to protect birds by preventing them from striking it, provides views to the entire campus to the north.

“From the outset, President Obama knew he wanted our Home Court to be a place where people could come for fun, inspiration, and learning, the kind of community spaces we need in an inclusive democracy,” said Valerie Jarrett, CEO, Obama Foundation. “We intend for it to be an extraordinary resource to our community that will allow families to improve their health and wellness and participate in educational and career readiness programming all in hopes of building a brighter, healthier future.”

© Obama Foundation

Moody Nolan, the largest African American design firm in the United States, is the design partner for the Elevate Design Build team. The selection of Elevate and Moody Nolan is consistent with the Foundation’s efforts to ensure leadership and decision-making positions related to the Home Court build are provided to inclusive firms.

The Home Court design is inspired by two of President Obama’s personal passions, basketball and building community, with a sleek metal and glass panel exterior designed to be a metaphor for a basketball net and community connection.

The space is also being designed to be consistent with the Foundation’s sustainability goals for the campus. Visitors will be welcomed into a two-story lobby which will shed bright natural light on many of the interior spaces of the building. Like the rest of the campus, Home Court will be heated and cooled primarily through the use of geothermal energy, a key part of the campus-wide strategy to avoid the use of fossil fuels.

© Obama Foundation

To inform programming needs on site, the Foundation is working with local community organizations including the YMCA, XS Tennis, Project Swish, Southside Wolfpack, Girls in the Game, and After School Matters to gather suggestions on programming that will be additive and complementary to opportunities already provided to young people in the community. In addition, the Foundation hosted focus groups with young people from the South and West Sides and administered a survey to youth grades 3–12 to ensure their voices are also informing the activities planned for the site.

The Home Court, which will open in 2025, will be the first space within Obama Presidential Center campus to open.