More than 175,000 people have visited the Obama Presidential Center since its June opening

Finnegan Belleau, Chicago Tribune on Sep 27, 2026

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More than 175,000 people have visited the Obama Presidential Center since its opening, with visitors coming from 50 U.S. states and 39 countries. Nearly a third were from Illinois.

The statistics come from data released Saturday in a statement by the Obama Foundation commemorating 100 days since the presidential center first opened June 19. Just under 4,000 were active military personnel.

There were four known marriage proposals, three bald eagle sightings and about 11,000 “Obama Burgers” eaten at the campus, the statement said.

“Thousands of people from across the street and around the world have traveled here to see what makes this campus so special and have left inspired to bring change home,” Obama Foundation CEO Valerie Jarrett said in the statement.

Visitors created 3,400 new library accounts at the Chicago Public Library branch at the Obama Center, which opened the same day, and the library saw roughly 207,000 visitors, the statement said. That’s about 9% of the Chicago Public Library’s total visitor count so far this year.

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