Obama Foundation Issues RFP to Four Potential Hosts of Future Presidential Library

September 15, 2014 at 11:00 AM CDT

Washington, D.C. – Today, The Barack Obama Foundation issued a  Request for Proposal (RFP) (Opens in a new tab) to the University of Chicago, University of Illinois at Chicago, Columbia University, and University of Hawaii, all of which submitted their qualifications to host the future Obama Presidential Library earlier this year.

The Foundation’s  Request for Qualifications (RFQ) (Opens in a new tab), released in March, laid out a vision and set of guiding principles for the future Obama Presidential Library, and solicited interested parties’ plans for locating, designing, developing, constructing and operating the facility. Some of the key criteria highlighted in the RFQ included transportation and accessibility, economic development, the ability to deliver a world-class project, community engagement and overall support from community partners. The RFQ process was designed to narrow the field to a short-list of potential partner institutions, which will now be asked to respond to an RFP with formal proposals and qualifications.

“We were amazed by the quality of responses to our Request for Qualifications and we are grateful to every institution that expressed interest in carrying President Obama’s legacy forward,” said Board Chair Martin Nesbitt. “These four potential partners have come the farthest in meeting our criteria and have each demonstrated a strong vision for the future Obama Presidential Library. We look forward to working with each institution to further refine their proposals over the coming months, and to presenting our recommendations to the President and First Lady early next year.”

The RFP,  available (Opens in a new tab) on the Foundation’s website, asks these four potential partners to submit a formal proposal that includes detail on the proposed management and organization of the project, site development plans, community partnerships, potential for academic collaboration, marketing and attraction strategy, and information about any financial and other commitments from the host or other partners.  The Foundation has asked for RFP responses by December 11, 2014. In early 2015, the Board of Directors expects to share recommendations with the President and First Lady, who will then make the final decision.

For more information about the Foundation and the future Obama Presidential Library, visit  http://www.obama.org, or follow @ObamaFoundation on Twitter (Opens in a new tab).