March 09--A federal judge on Wednesday admonished the city and park district for not turning over to a preservation group documents linked to the Lucas Museum, a project embroiled in a lawsuit by the group to keep the museum from being built on the lakefront.
U.S. District Judge John Darrah questioned why the city has been slow to cooperate, especially after city of Chicago lawyers indicated last week that they wanted to speed up the court process so construction could begin even as the Friends of the Parks' lawsuit rolls on.
"Why don't you just turn it all over?" Darrah asked. "What's the big secret?"
A lawyer for the city, Sydney L. Schneider, said her side has been wading through more than 18,000 documents related to Lucas Museum communications, and was attempting to turn over discovery to Friends of the Parks within the next few weeks.
"We want to produce these documents. We just want to do it the right way," Schneider said. "We are doing our best."
"Star Wars" creator George Lucas wants to house his collection of artwork and showcase exhibits and films at a proposed futuristic-looking building between Soldier Field and McCormick Place. The city has said that Lucas may be considering leaving Chicago because of the lawsuit, which was filed in November 2014.
Darrah seemed puzzled about the delay because at two recent hearings the city began pressing for an accelerated filing timeline. Darrah ruled Feb. 4 that Friends of the Parks adequately states a claim, quashing hopes from the Lucas side that the lawsuit would be tossed out.
No construction can begin at the site until a standstill order previously put in place is lifted. The judge kept that order in place Wednesday. Friends of the Parks has requested documents related to the project, the ground lease and the selection of the lakefront site in order to argue that the order to prevent work at the site remain in place. The judge agreed, saying he has a duty to ensure that both sides are acting fairly.
