Stop the Friends Of The Park Lawsuit Against Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Chicago

Friends of the Park https://fotp.org, a Chicago-based non-profit with the stated mission to "preserve, protect, improve and promote the use of parks and open spaces throughout the Chicago area for the enjoyment of all residents and visitors" has filed a lawsuit in an attempt to block construction of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art http://lucasmuseum.org, a proposed art museum endowed by Director George Lucas to house paintings, illustrations, cinematic art and digital art including items from his personal collection. 

The proposed site is a parking lot located between McCormick place and Soldier Field (shown above). In 2015, the State of Illinois approved potential land use for the museum and the Chicago City Council approved zoning. Lucas has pledged to privately fund the $400+ million dollar cost to:

No taxpayer dollars will be used, though the land is being leased from the park district at a cost of $10 for 99 years with two options for renewal. 

The proposed museum will add an iconic architectural structure and additional green space to an otherwise blank, paved, and bleak city landscape. The museum will contribute to and extend the cultural history of Chicago's museum campus further south. The museum will improve the safety of people using that section of lakefront for other recreational purposes. It will provide hundreds of jobs to Chicago residents and generate an estimated 2 billion dollars in tourism revenue in its first 10 years. Most importantly, it will provide educational opportunities that inspire a new generation of artists, storytellers, illustrators, and filmmakers. 

FOTP claims building the museum on that site "contradicts the public trust doctrine and its central principle that the general public is the beneficiary of this public lakefront parkland. The Lucas Museum is not a public use."

At a time when Chicago needs an organization like yours to protect actual parks, please do not waste the time and resources generously donated to you to protect a parking lot from the fate of becoming a world-class cultural institution.