CHICAGO — The Friends of the the Parks Bottoms Up Trolley Tour wants to take you on a tour of the proposed location of the George Lucas Museum — and the locations where the parks group thinks the museum really should go.
Tour-goers will take a trolley trip to the proposed lakefront location of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Arts, which Friends of the Park has opposed, while organizers answer attendees' questions about the plan. The museum is now proposed for an area between McCormick Place and Soldier Field that holds two parking lots.
The tour will then look at the sites where Friends of the Park is suggesting the museum be built.
Kelly Bauer says Friends of the Park are fine with the museum, but want it somewhere else:
The tour will also feature Navy Pier and DuSable Park, among other spots, and participants will be able to drink beer during the trolley ride and attend a happy hour party Downtown afterward with cocktails and appetizers.
Cassandra Francis, Friends of the Park president, said the tour organizers will answer "some of the unanswered questions that the public is not aware of in order to determine if they're supportive" of the Lucas Museum site.
Francis said the organization has had a "large number" of people calling with questions about the museum's location, which Friends of the Parks suggests be moved to the McCormick Place Marshalling Yard, 31st Street and Lake Shore Drive, or the site of the shuttered Michael Reese Hospital, 2929 S. Ellis Ave.
“While we are very supportive of the Lucas Cultural Arts Museum coming to Chicago, we oppose its siting on lakefront public open space," Francis said in a May release.
"The Lakefront Protection Ordinance specifically states that, ‘In no instance will further private development be permitted east of Lake Shore Drive.' It is clear that the siting of the Lucas Museum in this lakefront location contradicts our prior city visionaries’ goal of continuous public open space along the lakefront."
Francis said most of the attendees who have signed up for the tour are "people who want to understand more about the open space."
The tour runs 5:30-8:30 p.m. Friday. Trolleys depart from 16 N. Wabash St. Registration is available online. Tickets are $45 for Friends of the Parks members or $50 for non-members.
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