George Lucas gives up on Chicago site for his museum
George Lucas won’t build his museum in Chicago after all.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Friday the “Star Wars” creator has abandoned plans to build his Museum of Narrative Art and movie memorabilia in his city, after being challenged by a parks group, according to The Associated Press.
Wouldn’t that be funny if they let J.J. Abrams do the lakefront museum instead?
Anyway, Emanuel released a statement, saying it was a “missed opportunity” that will cost the city thousands of jobs, millions of dollars in economic investment, and educational opportunities for Chicago’s youth.
The group, Friends of the Parks, sued in November 2014 to stop the project. It’s been on hold since. The Chicago Tribune said Lucas will now focus on developing the museum back in California.
“No one benefits from continuing their seemingly unending litigation to protect a parking lot,” Lucas said. “The actions initiated by Friends of Parks and their recent attempts to extract concessions from the city have effectively overridden approvals received from numerous democratically elected bodies of government.”
Maybe Friends of the Parks is just a bunch of “Star Wars” fans, still pissed off over Jar Jar Binks.
Lucas chose Chicago over San Francisco, after the Presidio Trust in 2014 rejected Lucas’ plan to develop park land near the base of the Golden Gate Bridge. San Francisco tried keeping Lucas anyway, offering him a waterfront parcel known as Seawall Lot 330. Lucas went with Chicago instead.
The Tribune reported Lucas is “exploring a site on an island in the middle of San Francisco Bay.” Alcatraz? Stay tuned.