Chicago Park District Approves 99-Year Lease For George Lucas Museum
CHICAGO (CBS/AP) -- The Chicago Park District has signed off on a 99-year lease for filmmaker George Lucas' proposed museum along Lake Michigan.
Park district officials voted unanimously Wednesday to approve the lease, which would allow the nonprofit Lucas Museum of Narrative Art to build the facility for $10 on the lakefront. The lease still has to be approved by the city's Department of Zoning and its Plan Commission.
Nonprofit group Friends of the Parks is suing the Chicago Park District to prevent the museum from being built south of Soldier Field.
Current plans for the $400 million project call for a 300,000-square-foot structure with nearly 5 acres of green space.
Construction could begin as early as the spring and the museum could be operating by 2019 or 2020.
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