“Star Wars” creator George Lucas has officially pulled plans to open his museum in Chicago after legal issues similar to those he faced in San Francisco years ago stalled the project.
Officials with the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art announced Friday morning that Chicago will “no longer be considered a potential site for the museum.”
Instead, the museum will be built in California, though an exact location has not been determined. Lucas is reportedly considering San Francisco and Los Angeles as possible sites for the museum.
San Francisco officials, including Mayor Ed Lee, remain hopeful that Lucas will consider building the museum on Treasure Island.
“Mayor Lee has always believed that San Francisco is the best place for the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art,” Deirdre Hussey, a spokesperson for the mayor, said Friday.
“We understand Mr. Lucas is weighing his options. The mayor and the Board of Supervisors are working closely with the Lucas team to have a home for his world class collection on Treasure Island.”
Lucas had previously considered building the museum near Crissy Field in San Francisco’s Presidio, but the Presidio Trust in 2014 rejected those plans, prompting Lucas to evaluate Chicago as a possible location.
In Chicago, a parking lot near Soldier Field had been supported as a site for the museum by the City Council as well as numerous other agencies, but the group Friends of the Parks subsequently promised to prevent the museum from opening at any lakefront site or park in Chicago.
“While Chicago will not be home to the museum, my wife and I will continue to enthusiastically support a wide variety of educational and cultural activities throughout the city,” Lucas said in a statement Friday.
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