CHICAGO (AP) 鈥� Former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama surprised the first 100 visitors to walk through the doors of the new , personally greeting them Friday.
The Obamas, joined by former host LeVar Burton, also read 鈥淲here the Wild Things Are” to 25 school children at the Chicago Public Library branch inside the center. When the former president read Maurice Sendak’s line about being 鈥渒ing of all the wild things,鈥� Michelle Obama interjected with, 鈥淎lthough there were no kings,鈥� to applause.
Later, awed guests shook hands with the Obamas against the backdrop of a colorful, 38-foot-tall painting depicting a map of Chicago stretching to the ceiling, inspired by Carl Sandburg鈥檚 1914 poem about the city: 鈥渟tormy, husky, brawling, City of the Big Shoulders.鈥�
鈥淚t was perfect. It was great,鈥� said 18-year-old Houefa Agassounon from Chicago after the surprise visit from the Obamas. 鈥淚 was literally crying. I asked for a hug and everything.鈥�
She wrote a letter to the Obama Foundation last year, asking if she could be there when it opened. She said meeting the Obamas was a bonus.
鈥淭his is just the greatest thing of my 18 years of life,鈥� she said.
The opening followed a where the Obamas gave rousing speeches to an audience including three former presidents, their former first ladies, and a host of politicians, A-list celebrities, musicians, athletes and others. Thousands more joined the livestream from a nearby park.
A is planned for the sprawling campus on Chicago’s South Side near where the Obamas lived and began his political career. It is adjacent to the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry in the lakefront park, and not far from the University of Chicago.
Tickets for the general public are sold out through the end of November. But those lucky enough to score them for the first day got the unexpected thrill of meeting the Obamas themselves.
The campus includes a towering museum that covers the political and personal realms of the nation鈥檚 first Black president and first lady, while public spaces include a branch of the Chicago Public Library, a playground and athletic center, basketball courts and a picnic area with grills.
The tower鈥檚 design is meant to depict four hands coming together in solidarity. Wrapped around one side are 5-foot tall concrete capital letters, an excerpt of commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery march. It begins, 鈥淵ou are America.鈥�
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