Mayor Open To Possible Site Change For Lucas Museum
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Mayor Rahm Emanuel seemed to leave the door open a crack on the possibility of selecting a new site for the controversial Lucas Museum, a day after a judge declined to toss out a lawsuit filed by opponents who want it off the lakefront.
On Thursday, a federal judge granted an early victory to the Friends of the Parks in their efforts to prevent the $400 million museum from being built on what is now a parking lot south of Soldier Field.
Last year, the Chicago Park District agreed to a 99-year lease of the 17-acre property to the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art for $10. Museum officials hoped to break ground on the 300,000-square foot facility in the spring, but with U.S. District Judge John W. Darrah allowing a lawsuit to proceed, construction likely will be delayed.
On Friday, the mayor was asked if he'd consider finding a new site for the museum.
"That's a decision that we're going to work together with George Lucas and Mellody [Hobson, Lucas' wife]," he said. "First of all … I'm going to meet and talk to George and Mellody."
Emanuel has championed building the Lucas Museum on the lakefront, saying "it would complete our Museum Campus," and that it will boost the city's educational and cultural enrichment.
Friends of the Parks officials have said the support having the Lucas Museum in Chicago, just not on the lakefront, which they contend must be protected from any further private development.
They have suggested building the museum on the old Michael Reese Hospital site, which now sits vacant, which would still provide the facility with lakefront views, but keep it west of Lake Shore Drive.
