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Lucas Museum Opponents Disappointed by Parks Meeting, Call it a 'Done Deal'

By Ted Cox | October 22, 2014 8:28am
 Jeanne Gang of Chicago will design a pedestrian bridge linking Northerly Island to the new George Lucas museum, planned for the area south of Soldier Field.
Jeanne Gang of Chicago will design a pedestrian bridge linking Northerly Island to the new George Lucas museum, planned for the area south of Soldier Field.
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Studio Gang

SOUTH LOOP — The Chicago Park District began the process of developing a new "framework plan" for the Museum Campus Tuesday, but without addressing the pros and cons of the proposed new Lucas Museum south of Soldier Field.

Friends of the Parks rallied members before Tuesday's meeting to "speak up for open space" at the event but a park district official suggested other forums would be more appropriate to debate the Lucas Museum and its location.

"I didn't necessarily expect the Lucas Museum to be presented as such a done deal," complained Lauren Moltz, board chairwoman of Friends of the Parks.

About 100 people turned out at the Spertus Institute, 610 S. Michigan Ave., to attend the first public meeting to develop a "Museum Campus Framework Plan."

 Dennis O'Neill makes a point in his group. Behind him, one of the "grand schemes" suggested is to "move Lucas Museum."
Dennis O'Neill makes a point in his group. Behind him, one of the "grand schemes" suggested is to "move Lucas Museum."
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DNAinfo/Ted Cox

"There hasn't been a plan for the Museum Campus," said Bob O'Neill, president of the Grant Park Conservancy, which co-sponsored the event along with the park district, which will oversee the process.

Park district Chief of Staff Gia Biagi said the city lacked a "coherent framework" on recreation, access, sustainability and education, and engagement for the campus, bordered by the Shedd Aquarium and Field Museum on the north, a bird sanctuary on the other side of the McCormick Place Lakeside Center on the south, Lake Shore Drive on the west and Lake Michigan on the east.

The campus also includes Soldier Field, the Adler Planetarium, Northerly Island and the proposed site of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, currently proposed to be nestled between the stadium and McCormick Place on what are now parking lots.

Biagi urged those in attendance to "please feel free to talk about" the Lucas Museum, but she also made clear that "there's a lot of conversation that will happen, there's also a lot of process" ahead.

Friends of the Parks has said the location violates language in the Lakefront Protection Ordinance that "in no instance will further private development be permitted east of Lake Shore Drive." The group has threatend to file suit against the museum's construction there and plans to fight it all the way through the exhaustive city permit process.

Tuesday's meeting, however, began with other representatives of other museums talking about their ideas for the framework plan. They've generally been supportive of the Lucas Museum as what O'Neill described as a $100 million "shot in the arm."

Lucas Museum opponents had to content themselves with voicing opposition in small groups after the meeting broke up into 10 discussion tables to talk about ideas for the framework plan. There was never any public-comment period to voice opposition before the entire meeting.

"That was very deliberate," Moltz said. "It's not what I expected. I thought there'd be more of a public forum where there'd be questions asked.

"We tried to get our point across in a smaller group, but it wasn't the format I was expecting," she added.

The Lucas Museum dominated discussion in some groups, while others tried to stay focused on larger issues. One woman referred to the Lucas Museum as "the elephant in the living room" in her group.

"I do believe it's a done deal," said Dennis O'Neill, a University Village resident who generally favors the Lucas Museum and its location on the Museum Campus.

Biagi overall said she was pleased with the turnout for the meeting.

"I do believe there are a lot of different viewpoints and a lot of different topics," Biagi said. "I think we cast a pretty good net, and we'll keep lines of communication open.

"We just want to have a productive process. Lucas is one part of this big framework," she added. "There'll be lots of other opportunities to talk about that and other elements."

The process for the framework plan is expected to include research, interviews and public forums, with another meeting set for March or April, on the way to settling on a formal plan in six to eight months. Meanwhile, Biagi said she expects conceptual plans for the Lucas Museum to be delivered "by the end of the year."

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