Take a look inside the Obama Presidential Center, opening this weekend

The South Side of Chicago was home to words of prayer, melodies sung by famous musicians and addresses from public leaders to mark Thursday’s grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center.

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“This center is not a traditional museum, nor is today a traditional ribbon-cutting,” said Valerie Jarrett, CEO of The Obama Foundation, at the opening celebration.

The eight-story tower, with a shape inspired by four hands coming together, is the first fully digital museum of its kind. But that’s not the only thing that makes the museum unique. Just ask those who anticipate playing on the center’s NBA-regulation-sized basketball court, tasting a strawberry from the rooftop garden or sitting behind the president’s desk in a replica of the Oval Office, which contains a letter from Barack Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, as well as Obama’s BlackBerry phone.

The museum’s exhibits: From campaign buttons to cutting-edge interactive experiences

The Obama Presidential Center, located in Chicago, where former first lady Michelle Obama grew up and the former president got his start as a political organizer, features several exhibits honoring the campaign and presidency of Barack Obama.

Notable exhibits include 440 different buttons from Obama’s campaigns, a dozen mannequins showcasing Michelle Obama’s dresses and the eighth-floor “Sky Room” that looks out over Chicago’s South Side. The room is meant to be a place where visitors can go to quietly contemplate and admire iconic commissioned art.

Unlike other presidential museums, the Obama Presidential Center Museum is fully digital — no official papers are on display. Instead, visitors interact with hands-on exhibits that tell the story of Obama’s campaigns, presidency and life living in the White House.

“The Obama Presidential Center Museum has a variety of immersive media in it. Everything from soundscapes to large-scale projected films to digital art,” said Sara Pasch, director of integrated media at the Obama Presidential Center Museum. “Digital interactives give visitors the opportunity to participate in the story and have that back and forth. It’s consistent with the way that President Obama used those tools himself.”

One of these high-tech exhibits, “Power of Words,” is an 88-foot wall with a screen that shows film, visual art and text to tell the story of the Obama presidency.

This exhibit isn’t the only large-scale structure made to honor the former president. The exterior of the museum features a quote from the famous “You Are America” speech Obama delivered in 2015.

“It begins with, ‘You are American,’ and it ends with, ‘nation of ours.’ I think that very much speaks to this idea of going from me to we,” said Billie Tsien, one of the building’s architects.

Obamas say the center is made to be more than a museum

Outside the museum itself, the 20-acre campus includes free public resources for residents in the Chicago community.

The center’s branch of the Chicago Public Library is home to 3,500 book titles personally selected by the Obama family.

An NBA-regulation basketball court, named “Home Court,” is available for recreational use.

Dozens of garden beds in the Eleanor Roosevelt Fruit and Vegetable Garden feature local plants and native vegetables.

The playground and Great Lawn provide spaces for children and families to play outdoors.

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“To my fellow South Siders, I want you all to make this campus a part of your lives,” Michelle Obama said at the grand opening.

“Be inspired by the world-class art. Check out the books from our beautiful public library — and bring them back on time. Drop some beats in the recording studio. Hit some corner 3s at Home Court. Hold birthday parties. Jump-start clothing drives. Host citywide cleanup days here. Use this campus to show off this place we call home.”

As many as 1 million people are expected to use the free amenities each year, and 600,000 annual visitors are projected for the admission-based museum.

5 fun facts about the Obama Presidential Center

Fun fact No. 1: The museum’s 225-foot-tall tower and 20-acre campus cost $850 million to build. The initial estimate was $350 million. Funding was provided by The Obama Foundation.

Fun fact No. 2: Bo and Sunny, the Obama family’s dogs at the White House, have their own exhibit in the museum where children can run their fingers across textures made to mimic the dog’s fur.

Fun fact No. 3: The campus features 28 commissioned works of art from 30 different artists.

Fun fact No. 4: Tickets to the museum are $30, the most expensive of any U.S. presidential museum or library. This price is just ahead of the $29 tickets at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library Museum in California.

Fun fact No. 5: Obama tested out one of the playground slides himself in May. (He said it was “fantastic” but that he was a little tall for it.)

‘It’s never been for us’

In their speeches at the center’s grand opening, both Barack and Michelle Obama said the museum is about more than them.

“The exhibits here focus not just on policies, but on the shared values that make democracy possible,” Barack Obama said at the opening ceremony.

The museum is meant to honor both the American people and American values, not just the presidency, the Obamas said.

“Barack and I have always said that this center is grounded in our stories, but it has never been about us,” Michelle Obama said. “It’s never been for us. And it’s going to be here long after we’re gone. So what it becomes and how it’s preserved, that work has to be done by all of us, just like our democracy.”

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