Construction of former President Barack Obama's long-awaited library and museum in Chicago began with ambitious plans for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) but is now plagued by huge cost overruns, delays and a $40.75-million, racially charged lawsuit filed by a minority contractor.
From the outset, the endeavor touted DEI as a key part of enshrining Obama's legacy at the 19.3-acre site, where costs have ballooned from an initial $350 million to $830 million in 2021 based on its previous annual reports, with no publicly available figures available for updated projected costs. The project set out "ambitious goals" for certain construction diversity quotas, with its contracts to be allocated to "diverse suppliers," 35% of which were required to be minority-based enterprises (MBEs).
"With these aggressive goals, the foundation is hoping to set a new precedent for diversity and inclusion in major construction projects in Chicago and beyond," the Obama Foundation wrote in a 2017 press release.
The importance of DEI was cited on several occasions in an explosive lawsuit filed last month by Robert McGee, the Black co-owner of II in One Construction. The firm is a minority-owned business subcontractor that provided concrete and rebar services for the center.
McGee alleged that he and his firm were racially discriminated against by Thornton Tomasetti, a New York-based company that oversees structural engineering and design services.
In the lawsuit, McGee claims that Thornton Tomasetti changed standards and imposed new rules around rebar spacing and tolerance requirements that differed from the American Concrete Institute standards. The suit claims these changes resulted in his firm running up massive overruns in excess of $40 million, which put it on the verge of bankruptcy.
McGee's lawsuit stems from a memorandum Thornton Tomasetti wrote to the project’s leading construction partners about a year ago claiming that II in One — and the contracting firm it teamed up with on the project — were responsible for numerous challenges during the project.
The memorandum contained images of cracked slabs and exposed rebar to support its claims. Thornton Tomasetti said it spent hundreds of hours reviewing, analyzing, re-designing, and responding to corrective work and that subcontractors caused "a multitude of problems in the field."
"The construction issues were all unequivocally driven by the underperformance and inexperience of the concrete subcontractor," the memorandum states.
Thornton Tomasetti said the challenges with the concrete were due solely to the subcontractors and wrote that it "cannot stand by while contractors attempt to blame their own shortcomings on the design team."
The memo goes on to state that Thornton Tomasetti and an architectural firm, "bent over backwards to assist what everyone knows was a questionably qualified subcontractor team in areas where a more qualified subcontractor would not have required it."
That memorandum served as the basis of McGee’s lawsuit last month, as he alleges it contained "baseless criticisms and defamatory and discriminatory accusations."
The lawsuit claims that Thornton Tomasetti undermined the project’s diversity and inclusion goals, which were outlined in the project's general contract. The lawsuit also cites a DEI report by the project's construction manager in 2022, which outlines the project as "achieving significant diverse business participation." A report breaking down the demographics of those involved in the project was also released in April.
The suit claims the plaintiffs were "subjected to unjustified and discriminatory conduct… which directly undermined the Obama Foundation’s DEI goals and commitments, and mission to bring transformative change to the construction industry and local community by providing solutions to barriers that have historically prevented disadvantaged businesses from participating on projects of this magnitude."
The lawsuit claims that Thornton Tomasetti violated the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and that its alleged "defamatory and discriminatory statements and actions," caused II in One, Bob McGee and the other subcontractors to suffer extreme financial losses and potential bankruptcy.
The suit alleges that Thornton Tomasetti discriminated against II In One "on the basis of race."
McGee claims Thornton Tomasetti falsely accused II in One of lacking sufficient qualifications and experience to perform its work, while stating in the memo that non-minority-owned contractors were sufficiently qualified.
The lawsuit also claims the Obama Foundation relied on Thornton Tomasetti’s memo for not paying the subcontracting firms around $40.75 million for "additional costs incurred" at the site near Jackson Park in Chicago.
McGee's lawsuit refutes the allegations in Thornton Tomasetti's memo that his firm was inexperienced or questionably qualified, pointing to II in One’s 40-year track record in the industry and its completion of major Chicagoland projects, including Millennium Park, Harold Washington Cultural Center, and the American Airlines terminal at O’Hare Airport.
"Moreover, Bob McGee was aware and supportive of the Obama Foundation’s diversity and inclusion goals for the project and never imagined that the Obama Foundation’s structural engineer would single out a minority-owned subcontractor for unfair criticism and falsely accuse II in One of lacking sufficient qualifications and experience to perform its work, while, in the same letter, stating that the non-minority-owned contractors were sufficiently qualified," the memo reads.
"In a shocking and disheartening turn of events, the African American owner of a local construction company finds himself and his company on the brink of forced closure because of racial discrimination by the structural engineer," the lawsuit reads. "II in One and its joint venture partners … was subjected to baseless criticisms and defamatory and discriminatory accusations by the Obama Foundation’s structural engineer, Thornton Tomasetti."
The Obama Foundation said it is not a party to this lawsuit, and insisted that it will not cause any delays in the concrete work, which it says has already been largely completed.
"If the Foundation believed that any vendor was acting with a racist intent, we would immediately take appropriate action," Emily Bittner, the vice president of communications at the Obama Foundation, told Fox News Digital in a statement recently. The foundation has not responded to requests for information on the updated cost of the project.
The Obama Presidential Center aims to honor the political career of former President Barack Obama. It will consist of a museum, a library, conference facilities, a gymnasium and a regulation-sized NBA court. It will also house the nonprofit Obama Foundation, which is overseeing the center’s development.
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The project has faced problems in the past. Construction was initially anticipated to begin in 2018, but it was delayed until 2021. It is scheduled to open sometime in 2026.
Some community activists claim the new center will cause prices for homes and rent to increase and may price out many of those who live in the area. Environmental activists have also been critical of the project, arguing that it would remove too many trees and destroy some bird habitats.
Activists threatened to sue to block developments, but the plan to build the center was approved shortly after a lawsuit was filed, according to Newsweek. The Supreme Court denied the request to hear the case in 2021.
Representatives for II in One declined to comment. Fox News Digital also contacted representatives for Thornton Tomasetti for comment.
Court documents show that on Jan. 31, Thornton Tomasetti, Inc. and Scott A. Schneider, a senior principal and structural engineer at the firm, filed for an extension of time to answer the complaint. The court extended the deadline for their answer to March 5, 2025.
Fox News’ Michael Lew contributed to this report.
