George Lucas Prefers Chicago For His Museum
George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars appears to prefer Chicago over Los Angeles as the home of his art and movie collection. The director had narrowed his choice to three cities with San Francisco and Los Angeles sitting beside Chicago.
The move simply needs approval from Chicago’s planning commission to begin building. The Lucas institution, who is currently organizing a name change from Lucas Cultural Arts Museum to the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art will construct the museum on a series of parking lots near Soldier Field, the home of the Chicago Bears.
The move comes as a small surprise considering that Lucas, who is a California native managed to build most of his career around the city of San Francisco. The Presidio Trust in San Francisco had recently rejected the $700 million proposal made by Lucas’ foundation to build the museum in a prime area this February.
The move to Chicago may have something to do with Lucas’ new wife, Mellody Hobson, a Chicago native that convinced Lucas to live in the “windy city”, at least part-time.
Rahm Emanuel, the mayor of Chicago said that the city is honored to be the “recipient” of the museum, a real legacy that will teach both natives as well as tourists a rich lesson on narrative arts.