Story highlights The Obamas are back in Chicago

They participate in a community event on Wednesday

(CNN) Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama announced a new financial commitment to the South Side of Chicago Tuesday, the eventual home of Obama's presidential library.

"Michelle and I will personally donate $2 million to our summer jobs programs here in the community so that right away people can get to work and we can start providing opportunity for them," Obama said, noting that the center itself will not open for four more years.

"We can't afford to wait four years to start working together, and so what Michelle and I want to do is start now," Obama said, citing the issue of violence in Chicago.

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The former first couple joined Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, once Obama's chief of staff, and community leaders for a community event, which included a casual roundtable discussion on the Obama Presidential Center. The center will be built in Chicago's Jackson Park, and Obama estimated that the center itself will create 200-300 jobs, adding that studies show it will ultimately generate "1,400-1,500 (jobs) in the construction phase and another 2,000 in the overall economic development of the area."

Obama showed off the conceptual designs for the center on Wednesday. The museum will be shaped like a lantern, and the center will serve as both a presidential library as well as the headquarters of the Obama Foundation.

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