CHICAGO, May 15 (Xinhua) -- An organization called Protect Our Parks Inc. has sued Chicago authorities to stop what they describe as "illegal land grab" for the development of the Obama Presidential Center in the city's lakefront Jackson Park.

Local media reported on Tuesday that a group of opponents with the Protect Our Parks Inc. filed a federal lawsuit, accusing the City of Chicago and the Chicago Park District of "opening the door to progressively more intrusive destruction" of the historic park on Chicago's south side.

They claimed that established law precludes arbitrarily transferring possession, use and control of public parkland in Jackson Park to self-determined use by any private, non-governmental private entity, referring to the Obama Foundation, which will oversee the construction and operation of the Obama Presidential Center.

In May 2017, Barack Obama unveiled the preliminary design of his presidential center in Chicago's lakeside Jackson Park. Obama expressed his hope that the center, expected to be completed by 2021, will draw hundreds of thousands of visitors every year, and in the meantime revitalize the relatively less prosperous south side.

Responding to the latest accusations, the City of Chicago maintained that the Obama Presidential Center will be "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" to invest hundreds of millions of dollars that will create good jobs for the south side.