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Final Vote On Lucas Museum Pushed Back Until Next Week

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The City Council has put off until next week a final vote on filmmaker George Lucas' plan for a lakefront museum just south of Soldier Field.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel tried to shrug off the delay in the vote on the $400 million privately-funded Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, but sources told the Sun-Times negotiations with the Chicago Bears have stalled final approval.

The museum would be built on land now used for a Soldier Field parking lot, which is popular with Bears gameday tailgaters. The Bears have a lease f or the parking lot, which means there must be an agreement with the team as part of the museum plan.

Emanuel said he's not worried.

"We're making progress, and I note today it's an incredible parking lot. As we make progress, it will be an incredible park and an incredible museum; and we will be one city outside of Washington, D.C., that will have four family-oriented museums -- incredible cultural educational enrichment for the city, and a great economic opportunity," he said after Wednesday's City Council meeting.

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The mayor's office insisted there is no delay, and the aldermen will vote on the museum plan next week. It already has been approved by the Chicago Park District and the Chicago Plan Commission.

The museum would include a new underground parking garage, and an "event prairie" lawn that would be open to about 560 tailgaters for Bears games. City officials also have said they are looking to build a new parking structure west of Lake Shore Drive.

Even with Council approval, the museum would not necessarily be a done deal.

The group Friends of the Parks has filed a federal lawsuit to block the museum. The lawsuit alleges, because landfill from Lake Michigan was used to build the lakefront park where the city wants to the museum to be built, it is public property that cannot be turned over to a private operator. The lawsuit cites the "public trust doctrine," which requires the land to be set aside as a natural resource, and open to the public for recreation, and accessible for fishing, commerce, and other activity on the lake.

The organization has said it supports a Lucas museum in Chicago, just not on lakefront land. It has suggested Lucas consider alternatives west of Lake Shore Drive, such as the vacant Michael Reese Hospital site.

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