Lucas Gives Up on Plan to Build Museum in Chicago

Filmmaker George Lucas' dream of a landmark museum to house his collection of American popular art and media won't happen in Chicago after all.

Instead, the museum will be located in California. Where exactly remains an unknown, although Mayor Ed Lee's office said efforts are continuing to persuade Lucas to build in San Francisco.

The Chicago Tribune quotes Lucas as saying he's moving on after encountering determined opposition from those who challenged the city's plan to turn over a site on the Lake Michigan waterfront:

"No one benefits from continuing their seemingly unending litigation to protect a parking lot," filmmaker George Lucas said in a statement. "The actions initiated by Friends of Parks and their recent attempts to extract concessions from the city have effectively overridden approvals received from numerous democratically elected bodies of government."

Mayor Rahm Emanuel also issued a statement announcing Lucas was moving on.

"Unfortunately, time has run out and the moment we've consistently warned about has arrived," Emanuel said. "Chicago's loss will be another city's gain. ... We tried to find common ground to resolve the lawsuit — the sole barrier preventing the start of the museum's construction. But despite 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."

That new location could be -- could be -- San Francisco. Mayor Lee and other city officials have been trying to entice Lucas by offering sites ranging from a parcel on the Embarcadero south of the Bay Bridge and, more recently, a location on Treasure Island.

Lucas had coveted a site near Crissy Field in the Presidio, but his organization's painstakingly developed plan to build there was rejected by the private trust that controls the property.

Friday, mayoral spokeswoman Deirdre Hussey said Lee "has always believed that San Francisco is the best place for the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art." She added that the mayor and members of the Board of Supervisors "are working closely with the Lucas team to have a home for his world-class collection on Treasure Island."