San Francisco and Chicago vie to house the George Lucas Cultural Arts Museum

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Imagine the chance to visit a museum dedicated to STAR WARS. Sure, there have been displays of memorabilia and props from the films at museums over the years, but imagine the privately held belongings of the man who invented STAR WARS along with his countless other prized artistic and culturally relevant possessions in a single building dedicated to the arts?

George Lucas has been trying to build the Lucas Cultural Arts Museum for years now and after a long battle to find the proper location, two cities are fighting for the honor of hosting the eventual tourist destination. NPR has chronicled the latest in Lucas’ attempts to get the museum off the ground and cites the two cities in contention as being San Francisco and Chicago.

According to the article, the museum would not just be STAR WARS items.

Lucas says he’ll spend $300 million of his own money to build the proposed Lucas Cultural Arts Museum and will provide a $400 million endowment after his death. In addition to holding Skywalker artifacts galore, the museum would also host Lucas’ private art collection, featuring works by Norman Rockwell and N.C. Wyeth, among others.

Lucas has tried to get the museum built in San Francisco to no avail and was recently offered 17 acres of land by Chicago near their museum campus and Soldier Field for the discounted price of one dollar. Lucas’ wife, Mellody Hobson, lives in Chicago and Lucas recently called the Windy City his “second home”. While Skywalker Ranch and Lucas’ other properties are all in California, it seems like Chicago may have the upper hand at this point, but nothing is set in stone.

As a resident of the Chicago area, selfishly I want it to be built here. While Lucas was born and raised in Modesto, California, that state seems the more likely choice. Whatever the case, the Lucas Cultural Arts Museum sounds like a valuable and worthy ode to the arts and I hope I get to visit it in my lifetime.