In a time not too long ago (2014), in a galaxy not too far away (Chicago), Star Wars creator George Lucas looked to bring the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art to reality on the Windy City”s lakefront. But today, months of negotiation have collapsed under pressure from local interest groups and the museum will now need to find a new home.
“Unfortunately, time has run out, and the moment we've consistently warned about has arrived,” Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement. “Chicago's loss will be another city's gain.”
Any potential development of the museum – which was to house not only fine art, but also illustrations and comics including materials from Star Wars, Blade Runner and Pixar films – has been in neutral since a group called Friends of the Parks filed a lawsuit in November 2014. The group had proposed alternatives sites outside of the Chicago lakefront, but those wouldn”t satisfy Lucas.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Lucas said, ”No one benefits from continuing their seemingly unending litigation to protect a parking lot.”
So Lucas has decided to pack up his bags and go. Preliminary indications is that he”ll head west, and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has already expressed interest.
This isn”t the first time the Lucas Museum has failed to break ground. He had originally hoped to have the facility in San Francisco, not far from the Lucasfilm offices. But he could never come to an agreement with the city, and that”s when Chicago entered the picture.
The Force will Re-Awaken. It”s just a matter of where and when.