Lucas Museum Appears to Be Headed Out of Chicago

Chicago, IL, June 24, 2016 -- Filmmaker George Lucas and his wife, Mellody Hobson, said they now considering locations outside of Chicago to build their museum of narrative art.

The museum will likely be built somewhere in California, according to multiple media reports.

In a statement released Friday, Hobson blamed the special interest group, Friends of the Parks, for hijacking the plan.

“We are now seriously pursuing locations outside of Chicago. If the museum is forced to leave, it will be because of the Friends of the Parks and that is no victory for anyone.”

Friends of the Parks, a private group dedicated to preserving and improving Chicago’s parks and lakefront beaches, filed a lawsuit challenging the original location of the proposed Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in a parking lot between McCormick Place and Soldier Field.

The group also didn’t bite on a compromise plan proposed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, to replace the aging McCormick Place with the museum along with 12 acres of new park space.

The mayor’s compromise plan would have required authorization from the Illinois General Assembly and Gov. Bruce Rauner on a series of tax hikes, as well as $1.2 billion in new borrowing from the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which runs McCormick Place.

Friends of the Parks wanted to see the Lucas Museum being built away from the lakefront on the former Michael Reese Hospital site, which they claimed would have provided the South Side with many economic benefits, as well as preserving existing lakefront protections.

A disgusted Emanuel also issued a statement, blaming the parks preservation group. The mayor called it a lost opportunity to gain a new museum and what would have been the largest philanthropic gift -- $1.2 billion -- in the city’s history.

Unfortunately, time has run out and the moment we’ve consistently warned about has arrived – Chicago’s loss will be another city’s gain. This missed opportunity has not only cost us what will be a world-class cultural institution, it has cost thousands of jobs for Chicago workers, millions of dollars in economic investment and countless educational opportunities for Chicago’s youth.

Despite widespread support of the project from Chicago’s cultural, business, labor, faith and community leaders and the public, a legal challenge filed by Friends of the Parks threatened to derail this once-in-a-generation opportunity …

Emanuel called Friends of the Parks’ lawsuit “the sole barrier preventing the museum’s construction.

“[D]espite our best efforts to negotiate a common solution that would keep this tremendous cultural and economic asset in Chicago, Friends of the Parks chose to instead negotiate with themselves while Lucas negotiated with cities on the West Coast,” the mayor added.

Read Hobson’s full statement on CBS 2 Chicago.