Barack and Michelle Obama surprise first visitors to newly opened presidential center

CHICAGO (AP) — Former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama surprised some of the first visitors to walk through the doors of the new Obama Presidential Center, personally greeting them Friday.

The Obamas, joined by former “Reading Rainbow” host LeVar Burton, also read to school children on the opening day of the center, which is expected to draw a million visitors each year.

The Juneteenth opening followed a star-studded dedication ceremony where the Obamas gave rousing speeches to an audience including three former presidents, their former first ladies, and a host of politicians, A-list celebrities, musicians, athletes and others. Thousands more joined the livestream from a nearby park.

A weekend of events is planned for the sprawling campus on Chicago’s South Side near where Obama lived and began his political career. It is adjacent to the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry in the lakefront park, and not far from the University of Chicago.

Tickets for the general public are sold out through the end of November. But those lucky enough to score them for the first day got the unexpected thrill of meeting the Obamas themselves.

The campus includes a towering museum that covers the political and personal realms of the nation’s first Black president and first lady, while public spaces include a branch of the Chicago Public Library, a playground and athletic center, basketball courts and a picnic area with grills.

The tower’s design is meant to depict four hands coming together in solidarity. Wrapped around one side are 5-foot tall concrete capital letters, an excerpt of Obama’s 2015 speech commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery march. It begins, “You are America.”