Washington- U.S. President Barack Obama will give his final farewell speech on Jan. 10 at Chicago’s McCormick Place, the White House confirmed Monday.

“On Tuesday, January 10, I’ll go home to Chicago to say my grateful farewell to you, even if you can’t be there in person,” Obama said in a statement on Monday.

In an email from President Obama, he said: “I’m just beginning to write my remarks. But I’m thinking about them as a chance to say thank you for this amazing journey, to celebrate the ways you’ve changed this country for the better these past eight years and to offer some thoughts on where we all go from here.”

“Since 2009, we’ve faced our fair share of challenges, and come through them stronger. That’s because we have never let go of a belief that has guided us ever since our founding — our conviction that, together, we can change this country for the better. So I hope you’ll join me one last time.”

Booking Obama’s evening presidential farewell at McCormick Place — where he celebrated his 2012 re-election with a massive rally — suggests the Jan. 10 event is a giant send-off days before he leaves office at noon Jan. 20.

Obama noted in his statement that presidential farewell speeches started with George Washington in 1796.