There’s little doubt that Star Wars, Indiana Jones and George Lucas will be recurring topics here on MOARGeek due to their high levels of geek machismo. So what better way to kick off Lucas/Star Wars coverage than to talk about the George Lucas Museum landing in Chicago?
Now I’m not the most unbiased person, due to my connection to the Windy City. So you will find a level of excitement here you may not find from a writer from, for example, San Francisco (who lost the bid for the museum to Chicago). Let’s just say it’s safe to assume I am stoked for this.
It came as quite the shocker to many that San Francisco didn’t win the bid for the museum considering the ties that Lucas has to the area. Lucas is from Modesto California and built his Skywalker Ranch in Marion County. But Lucas also has ties to Chicago, his wife Mellody Hobson is the president of Chicago-based Ariel Investments and is on the board of other corporate companies here. In the end Chicago was chosen for the location the city provided. It will be nestled nicely along 17 acres of Lake Michigan with other attractions such as the Adler Planetarium, Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum. So the location already has maximized traffic, giving the Lucas Museum high visibility (the view isn’t so bad either).
Lucas said in a news release that choosing Chicago overSan Francisco was the “right decision for the museum, but a difficult decision for me personally because of my strong personal and professional roots in San Francisco.”
But while the bid has been won it’s not going without opposition. Chicago open space advocates are contending that the museum would violate city ordinances that protects open areas along Lake Michigan. These same advocates are calling for an alternate location, such as downtown or a economically disadvantaged area. So it appears Lucas will have some hoops and red tape to jump through after all. Lucas is hoping to have the museum up and running by 2018 but that remains to be seen if the opposition has any weight that could stop it’s proposed location build.
[button type=”button” link=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/17/george-lucas-museum-lawsuit_n_5595873.html” variation=”btn-danger” target=”blank”]Source: Huffington Post[/button]Featured image courtesy AP/Chris Pizzello
Last Updated on November 27, 2018.
