A Chicago park advocacy group asked the Supreme Court to block construction on former President Obama’s presidential library, on the same day that shovels broke ground on the project.
Protect Our Parks and several other plaintiffs made the 11th hour plea to the high court Monday over environmental concerns, according to The Hill.
The group asked the court to issue an emergency halt on construction in the city’s Jackson Park on the South Side, claiming that federal, state and local governments broke the project into smaller pieces to sidestep a full environmental assessment, according to the report.
The emergency request said that construction would reportedly “demolish significant parts of Jackson Park, its historical resources, parkland, and trees, which will, in turn, adversely affect the human environment, the historic landscape, wildlife, and migratory birds.”
A 2018 legal push from Protect Our Parks to halt construction on the $500 million project was blocked by a federal judge.
“We await word from the Court as to next steps,” an Obama Foundation spokesperson told the outlet.
“On Monday, August 16 the Obama Foundation officially began construction of the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park,” the statement reportedly continued, “and we are excited to bring this historic project to the city of Chicago.”
The fully digitized presidential library will be built near the University of Chicago campus, commemorating the area where the Democrat began his political career.