The Obama Presidential Centre opened its doors on Chicago’s South Side on Thursday with a ceremony that was as much a celebration of civic engagement as it was a display of political symbolism. Three former US presidents — Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Joe Biden — joined Barack and Michelle Obama on stage, a rare bipartisan tableau that underscored the absence of Donald Trump, who was not invited and has derided the $850 million complex as a “dump”. Viewed from Washington, the gathering of every living ex-president save the current occupant of the White House was an unmistakable statement about the fragility of democratic norms, a theme that ran through the speeches and musical performances alike.

Set on 19 acres in Jackson Park, a historically underserved neighbourhood where Obama once lived, the centre is not a traditional presidential library but a hybrid museum, community hub and leadership incubator. Its granite-and-glass architecture, designed to evoke a lantern, has drawn both admiration and local criticism over fears of gentrification and displacement. The opening, a decade in the making, comes just weeks before America’s 250th independence anniversary, and Obama used the occasion to reflect on the nation’s founding contradictions. He acknowledged that the founders “fell terribly short” of the Declaration’s promise by preserving slavery and restricting the vote, yet praised their foresight in crafting a framework capable of being made “more perfect”. The speech, delivered without once naming Trump, repeatedly invoked the principle that “there will be no kings or lords, no serfs or subjects, but only citizens” — a phrase that drew sustained applause from a crowd that included Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Oprah Winfrey.

Michelle Obama’s tribute to her husband provided the emotional high point, moving the former president to tears as she recounted the “unshakeable values” he embodied through eight years in the “crucible” of the White House. She also drew knowing laughter and cheers by listing his achievements, including “winning a peace prize” — an apparent jab at Trump’s long-standing frustration over never receiving a Nobel. The musical lineup, featuring Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Bono and Christina Aguilera, lent the event the air of a cultural festival, a stark contrast to the more sparsely attended planning for the administration’s own American Freedom 250 celebrations.

The White House responded by branding Trump the “Builder-in-Chief”, claiming his renovation projects were completed on time and under budget in contrast to Obama’s “overspent and underdelivered” record. Analysts in Europe note that the centre’s opening crystallises a broader contest over legacy and narrative as the 2028 election cycle looms. Obama himself, in a joint interview with ABC News, insisted the centre is not an exercise in nostalgia but a catalyst for future civic leaders, a message that resonates far beyond Chicago’s lakefront. As the public begins to stream through its doors on Juneteenth, the question is whether the institution can transcend the polarised climate that its opening so vividly reflected.