City Hall Pushes New Lakefront Location For Lucas Museum
(CBS) -- Could a new lakefront location defuse the controversy over the Lucas museum?
The city now wants to put it where McCormick Place East now sits.
CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot reports.
The demolition of the existing building would create 12 acres of lakefront park space, and the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art would be built on the south end of the property. An earlier proposal earmarked lakefront property next to Soldier Field.
Friends of the Parks has long been at odds with the original proposal, which led to a legal fight.
The museum is named after "Star Wars" creator George Lucas. His wife, Mellody Hobson, says she hopes the project can be built in Chicago.
"I'm really hopeful that we can work it out. I'm really hopeful that we can find partnerships with all of the relevant players, be it the parking lot site or the McCormick East site and ultimately Chicago will win," Hobson said Friday. "I'm desperate for Chicago to win."
McCormick Place East is the current home of the Arie Crown Theater. There's no word on the financial impact the loss of space could create.
"We heard the City's pitch about this new proposal. We have a lot to review, and we are in conversation with the city," Friends of the Parks said in a statement.