To A New Location
By Ken Hare
Chicago Defender Staff Writer
Perhaps the planners of George Lucas’ Museum should have seen the Star Wars series, or in the least, read parts of the manuscripts to see that the forces of good always triumph in the end. Unfortunately, they’ve had to learn what every other ambitious developer before them has had to learn the hard way.
That money can’t buy everything! And that you don’t touch Chicago’s lakefront or its public parks system. Now, after wasting considerable amounts of money, time and fighting in court; Lucas’ team has reached what looks like a truce with the watchdog group, Friends of the Park (FOTP) and has agreed on another location.
In a press release, FOTP said “Friends of the Parks has agreed with the City of Chicago’s request that we stay our pending lawsuit to stop construction of George Lucas’ lakefront museum on the proposed site adjacent to Soldier Field. The City has informed U.S. District Court John Darrah of that. We acquiesced because the city is now prioritizing another site. Any stay still enables us to reinstate the lawsuit, if necessary.”
All interested parties have agreed to a more collaborative approach and meetings are currently underway to deal with the real impact such a museum will have on the surrounding community, wherever it is built.
Already, we have met with several of the museum’s central participants, including Mellody Hobson, on behalf of her husband George Lucas; Chicago’s deputy mayor and general counsel; and Father Michael Pfleger on a museum’s impact on jobs and the economy, among other parties, the press release stated.
Currently, the site of the former Michael Reese Hospital is being considered. FOTP – may the force continue to be with you. Stay tuned for further developments…
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