The Obama Presidential Center is preparing to welcome visitors from around the world in Chicago, Illinois. CBS News' Lana Zak got a look at the monumental project.

Former President Barack Obama's presidential museum will open June 19 more than a decade after Chicago was selected for the project.

A museum dedicated to the career of former US president Barack Obama is set to open in Chicago on June 19, the US holiday Juneteenth commemorating the liberation of the African-American population from slavery in 1865.

Barack Obama’s presidential centre, which officially opens on June 18 in Chicago, has been nicknamed the ‘Obamalisk’, and compared to a Star Wars spaceship and the Eye of Sauron from The Lord of the Rings.

Here’s how to spend a day in the city as the former president would, from legendary restaurants to the new Barack Obama Presidential Library opening in June 2026.

In Chicago, the $850 million Obama Presidential Center aims to remake a neighborhood with a 19.3-acre community hub and a brooding 225-foot museum.

The Obama Presidential Center is adjacent to three Chicago neighborhoods: Hyde Park, Woodlawn and South Shore, where businesses hope visitors who came for the president will stay to explore their communities and visit them,