As you may have heard, it’s been confirmed that Barack Obama’s announcement speech will be on February 10th in Springfield, Illinois…

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — U.S. Sen. Barack Obama’s office announced Wednesday that his Feb. 10 presidential campaign announcement in Springfield will be conducted at the Old State Capitol, the building where Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous “House Divided” speech.

The Illinois Democrat last month set up an exploratory committee and said he would announce in February whether he will run for president. He had revealed the date and city of the announcement but didn’t confirm before now that the event would be conducted at the limestone Greek Revival building that served as Illinois’ state Capitol between 1837 and 1888.

Obama’s office on Wednesday e-mailed a notice to reporters outlining details of the event at the domed downtown Springfield building, which now is a tourist site and home to some state offices.

The event will begin at 9 a.m. (central) Feb. 10 at the building at South Sixth and East Adams streets. It will be free and open to the public.

Lincoln delivered his “House Divided” speech in the building in 1858, warning that “this government cannot endure permanently half-slave and half-free.”

At the last Vermonters for Obama meeting on January 18th, we decided that it would be great to have a viewing party to watch the event. And, that’s exactly what we’re going to do!

Anita at the Euro Gourmet — apparently now our official meeting place — is really looking forward to it. And they have a video projector, so there won’t be a bad seat in the house.

Here are the details:

Euro Gourmet
61 Main Street
Burlington, VT
Saturday, February 10th
Doors open at 10 a.m.

Now, it’s rumored that the speech will actually happen at 11:00 a.m. Eastern, but it could be earlier, so don’t hesitate to get there as close to 10 as possible. And, one additional perk is that February 10th is also the day of the Burlington Winter Festival, just down the street from the Euro Gourmet, with the Penguin Plunge beginning at 11.

Hope to see you all there!