California Loses 'Star Wars' Creator George Lucas Museum to Chicago

California Loses 'Star Wars' Creator George Lucas Museum to Chicago

The battle between San Francisco and Los Angeles for the right to host a planned museum dedicated to Star Wars creator George Lucas ended in a draw. Neither city won.

Instead, Chicago is the future site for The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. The museum will be built near Soldier Field.

The selection was something of a surprise, given Lucas’ close ties to San Francisco and California — he is a native of the state, Lucasfilm’s visual effects division is based in The City, and the headquarters for Lucasfilm and Skywalker Sound is across the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin County. Los Angeles also bid for the museum.

Lucas originally sought to locate the museum in the Presidio, where Lucasfilm is based, as part of the Presidio Trust’s redesign efforts for the old commissary site near Crissy Field. His proposal competed with two other ideas, but in the end none of the projects was chosen.

The Presidio Trust also offered up another site in the national park before the Chicago decision was announced.

Lucas’ signature film achievement, the Star Wars franchise, will continue in 2015. The seventh film in the series, to be directed by J.J. Abrams, is currently in production.

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