Support for Lucas Museum Building


Support for Lucas Museum Building

By Monique Smith

The ‘Coalition 2 Build the Lucas Museum’ in a recent press conference announced their support for the Lucas Museum. In 2014, Star Wars creator George Lucas announced plans to bring his museum to Chicago after San Francisco rejected his initial proposed location. Plans for the lakefront museum were quickly halted when the advocacy group Friends of the Park filed a lawsuit preventing Mayor Rahm Emmanuel from gifting Lucas with 17 acres of park land near Soldier Field.

The original site was rejected and a second site was proposed near McCormick Place, it too has been rejected by the group. The Mayor filed a petition to have Friends of the Park suit thrown out and in the latest court filing, Friends of the Park is promising to take its fight to state court. Friends of the Park Executive Director, Juanita Irizarry says the group isn’t opposed to having the Lucas Museum in Chicago, but suggests the location be moved to Bronzeville where the old Michael Reese Hospital was situated.

But Rev. Dr. Leon Finney, ‘Coalition 2 Build the Lucas Museum’ organizer and pastor of the Metropolitan Apostolic Community Church says, “The Lucas Museum will bring high paying and prestigious jobs in the technology, legal, construction, engineering, communications, science and math sectors which are sorely needed,”. Chicago is hemorrhaging from jobs, the Lucas people are investing $750 million dollars into Chicago, their (Friends of the Park) position doesn’t add up. They consider land more important than lives,” he said. Also present at the press conference was Chatham Business Associations Executive Director, Melinda Kelly who said, “This project is a no brainer, the Lucas Museum will be built on land that is currently not being used and will generate 8,000 construction jobs as well as 700 long term employment opportunities.” Rev. Jesse Jackson of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition has also spoken out in support of the museum, “If necessary, we too will be in the courts and the streets, arguing this once-in-a-generation opportunity,” he said.

Earlier this month, Lucas’ wife Melody Hobson issued an emotional statement regarding the opposition to her husband’s museum. “We are now seriously pursuing locations outside of Chicago,” Hobson said. “If the museum is forced to leave it will be because of the Friends of the Park and that is no victory for anyone. . . . As an African American who has spent my entire life in this city I love, it saddens me that young black and brown children will be denied the chance to benefit from what this museum will offer. . . .In refusing to accept the extraordinary public benefits of the museum, the Friends of the Park has proven itself to be no friend of Chicago,” she said. The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, the first of its kind will feature an unprecedented collection of fine art, popular art from illustration to comics and an insider’s perspective on the cinematic creative process. It’s an opportunity for Chicago youth to learn about digital art, movies and animatronics.

Our nation’s 44th and this country’s first African American president in less than a year will be leaving the White House. For a time, the question loomed as to where the Obama Presidential Center would be located. Chicago wasn’t the only choice. Though President Obama grew his political legs here in Chicago, met and married a Chicago native he was born and raised primarily in Hawaii and has lived in different parts of the world. The process to have a presidential library built takes years and a varied amount of processes to make it happen. First, a non-profit foundation is organized, that organization is dedicated to raising awareness, rally support and raises funds for the project.

The foundation was formally incorporated in January 2014 and several organizations submitted proposals for the honor of hosting the institution. Among them were the University of Hawaii, Columbia University, the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Chicago. The University of Chicago was ultimately selected as the site where the Obama Foundation would be housed.

The Obama Foundation laid out the mission for the Obama Presidential Center and it is to connect people from different backgrounds, inspire and empower people to take action on the big civil and political challenges of our time by educating them on their civil rights and responsibilities as citizens. The center will include a library, museum and office space for the foundation. Once the Obama Presidential Center is completed, it will be the 14th site in the National Archives and Records Administration’s presidential library systems. The next phase of this project includes the selection process for an architect and there are currently seven that are submitting proposals for this project.

The site where the library is to be located on the south side of Chicago has yet to be determined, but the choices are Jackson Park or Washington Park. South Side residents will be able to benefit greatly from having the center built in this part of the city. Like the Lucas Museum, Finney said, the money that is slated to be infused in developing the land and creating jobs will bring a needed economic stimulus to the south side. “The Obama Presidential Center and the Lucas Museum will complement each other and be powerful generators of tourism,” he said.

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