Criticism for Chicago's Lucas Museum Planning Process

"A rational city would conduct careful studies and even hold a referendum before its mayor decreed that 17 acres of precious waterfront property would be given to a movie mogul to house his collection of 'Star Wars' memorabilia, Norman Rockwell paintings and other stuff," writes Chicago Tribune Architecture CriticBlair Kamin.

"But Chicago is a boss city, not a rational city. City Hall makes the big decisions first, then it holds public hearings that offer the illusion of democracy."

Kamin's concerns are that the campus and surrounding area will be overwhelmed with cars, despite the hire of Jeanne Gang to oversee the museum's landscape design. On that latter note, Kamin says, "because Gang is on Lucas' payroll, she's in no position to argue that the cars and SUVs flocking to his museum could disrupt the ecological oasis she envisions with even bigger traffic jams. Kamin also presents an alternative proposition for the location of the museum, which you can find in the linked article.

As for the emerging politics of the museum proposal, Melissa Harris reports on the creation of a pro-museum group called the "Friends of Lucas Museum."