An online petition is making a late-breaking push to rename Wabash Avenue, the downtown stretch that includes Trump International Hotel and Tower, as "Barack Hussein Obama Avenue" just days before the Obama Presidential Center opens. Organizers say the move would change the tower’s mailing address and serve as a symbolic rebuke, and thousands of people have already jumped on board. The idea has spread quickly across social media as the center prepares to open this Friday.
The petition on Change.org shows 23,771 verified signatures and lists Bryce Jones as the organizer. Created on May 4, the petition frames the renaming as both a tribute timed to the center’s opening and "a small act of resistance" aimed at altering the Trump tower’s official address.
Trump International Hotel and Tower sits along the Chicago River at 401 N. Wabash Ave, the exact address that would change if the city went through with a renaming, according to Apple Maps. That gives the petition a very specific target, one that nearby residents and businesses would immediately feel on their mail and signage.
Actually pulling off a name change is another story. Renaming a street in Chicago requires an alderman to sponsor the change and the City Council to sign off, and city rules generally bar honoring living people with official brown street signs, USA Today reports. Any formal move would need a willing alderman, a successful council vote, and the logistical headache of readdressing businesses on the block. For now, the petition is functioning mostly as a symbolic gesture timed to a high-profile moment for the city.
Why now
Backers say the timing is no accident. The Obama Presidential Center’s grand opening is set for this Friday, with events running June 19 to 21, according to the Obama Foundation. Supporters argue that putting Obama’s name on Wabash would celebrate his Chicago legacy while offering a pointed counterweight to the Trump branding looming over the river as the new center opens.
What stands in the way
Even if the signature count keeps rising, the path is political, not digital. An alderman would have to introduce an ordinance and the full City Council would need to approve it, USA Today notes. The petition has already folded into a broader online back and forth about Trump and Chicago, as the former president has publicly criticized the Obama center and blasted city leaders, and petitioners describe the proposed renaming as a form of pushback.
For now, the whole thing sits in the realm of political theater, a buzzy petition keyed to a major local celebration. Any real change to the street signs would have to move through aldermanic channels and a City Council vote, with city officials weighing precedent, logistics, and the inevitable politics of putting one president’s name on the other president’s block.
