After engaging in a contentious years-long process to build a digital arts museum on one of the most prime pieces of real estate in San Francisco, George Lucas was told Monday that neither he — nor any other team — would get to build anything on the space.
"We simply do not believe any of the projects are right" for the spot that overlooks the Golden Gate, said Nancy Bechtel, board chairman of the Presidio Trust. "We're extending an invitation to George Lucas to work with us to identify an alternate location for his proposed museum."
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Lucas had threatened several times during the process to take his museum project to Chicago, where Mayor Rahm Emanuel — a good friend of Lucas' wife, Chicago native Mellody Hobson — has already invited Lucas to bring his substantial art collection. Now it turns out he's had offers from other cities, plural.
"We were surprised," David Perry, Lucas spokesman, told Mashable. "we'll look at that alternative when it's identified, but there are a number of cities out there that would love to have a Lucas museum, and we're going to be returning their calls."
Which isn't to say that Lucas, a Bay Area native, is going to turn his back on the Presidio's offer. "We wouldn't have spent the last four years investing blood, sweat and treasure in this process if we didn't want it in San Francisco," Perry added.
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Lucas wants the museum to highlight storytelling art such as Maxfield Parrish and Norman Rockwell, as well as to tell the story of computer illustration, movie CGI, and the birth of Star Wars. His proposal received strong support from local politicians including minority leader Nancy Pelosi, as well as tech luminaries such as Eric Schmidt and Jack Dorsey.
The Presidio Trust identified the site in question as the location for "a world class cultural institution" back in 2002 — but seems to have been swayed since then by public outcry over having a museum as large as the one Lucas proposed on the waterfront of a major national park.