Following a decade of planning, construction and delays, the Obama Presidential Center’s opening has been narrowed to a specific month next year — but not yet an exact date, former President Barack Obama said Monday.

“We’re going to open in June so that y’all don’t have to bring your coats up,” Obama said in a conversation during a visit to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas.

The presidential center in Jackson Park was announced in 2015 and was originally slated to open in 2021, but lawsuits and federal reviews suspended construction at times. Construction didn’t actually begin until 2021 . The center’s opening had recently been set for sometime in spring 2026.

The $800 million project — the most expensive presidential center in U.S. history — is centered around a 22

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