May 06--Gov. Bruce Rauner on Thursday said he supports Mayor Rahm Emanuel's original site for a George Lucas lakefront museum but has some misgivings about the latest plan to tear down McCormick Place Lakeside Center.
The Republican governor's comments came as a federal appeals court gave Friends of the Parks until May 11 to respond to Emanuel's request to toss a lawsuit the group filed objecting to the initial site, a parking lot south of Soldier Field, north of McCormick Place and east of Lake Shore Drive.
Asked about the "Star Wars" filmmaker's museum while at a business event in Decatur, Rauner said Lucas' planned donation of $743 million to build the museum is "good for Illinois." The governor noted that he signed a bill last year aimed at making it easier to build the museum.
"I didn't demand anything in return or any reforms. I signed a bill to support their first location because it didn't really take any taxpayer money, and it's built on a big paved-over parking lot next to Chicago. I was good with that. I'm very supportive of that," he said.
With a lawsuit tying up the parking lot site, Emanuel pitched the idea last month of tearing down Lakeside Center, putting the futuristic-looking museum in its place and building new convention space west of Lake Shore Drive. The complicated plan requires state lawmakers and Rauner to let the agency that runs McCormick Place borrow an additional $1.2 billion in a deal that requires five future tax hikes.
"That raises a lot of issues because that would require taxpayer money and you know what, I'm not really an advocate for spending a lot of taxpayer money right now," Rauner said. "And I don't think taxpayers have been given a lot of value in McCormick Place as it is. So now it's a tougher decision. I'm not going to weigh in on that particular one until we might have to."
And Rauner might not ever have to -- Friends of the Parks this week said it would oppose the McCormick Place site as well, leading Emanuel to ask the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to take the extraordinary step of tossing the parks lawsuit on emergency grounds.
On Thursday, Emanuel wouldn't predict the likelihood of success of his long-shot legal approach. "That's for the lawyers. I'm not a lawyer, thank God," he said.
Friends of the Parks Executive Director Juanita Irizarry has said there was a split within her group about whether to accept the Lakeside Center museum site. Emanuel did not respond directly to a question about whether he will personally appeal to the parks group's board members to change their position.
And the mayor said he wouldn't urge his deep-pocketed supporters to withdraw their funding of Friends of the Parks, instead trying to turn the focus to the widespread support he says the filmmaker's proposed Lucas Museum of Narrative Art enjoys.
"No, that's not what I'm going to do," the mayor said. "Look, I know where the public is. And I know -- let me say this. You try to make this about me. Every president of every museum in the city signed a letter saying this is a good thing. The hotel industry is for it. Religious and community leaders, especially on the South and West sides, are for it. Organized labor is for it. The Chicago Chamber is for it. There's a broad group across a spectrum, that usually don't agree on everything, agree this would enrich Chicago economically and educationally."
John Byrne reported from Chicago.
cbott@tribpub.com
jebyrne@tribpub.com
