The latest rendering of the Obama Presidential Center tower. (Courtesy of Obama Foundation)

A bid to halt construction on the Obama Presidential Center was denied a hearing Friday by Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who offered no insights into her decision. 

An application for an emergency stay was filed Tuesday with Barrett by Protect Our Parks, one day after preliminary work on the center got underway in Jackson Park. 

Protect Our Parks still has legal action against the center pending in appeals court and requested an injunction barring construction while that case winds its way through the system. Allowing work on the center to proceed before an appeals judgment is rendered will result in “irreversible excavation and site clearing,” Protect Our Parks argued in its filing.

Barrett is the justice assigned to cases from the 7th Circuit, which covers Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. She made the decision unilaterally to deny Protect Our Parks’ request, without forwarding the application to her fellow justices.

Backers of the Obama Center’s location in Jackson Park say it will bring economic development and amenities to the surrounding neighborhoods. Opponents say the center will destroy much of the park’s design, including the loss of hundreds of trees, and would have been better suited to nearby Washington Park.

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