--- description: This is not the museum space you're looking for. title: George Lucas May Be Sued by Chicago Bears Fans Over Museum image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt09e6ac1bf5cf665b/69869bebadae4418c75442bc/450415170.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Chicagoans May Sue George Lucas for Stealing Their Tailgating Space  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Jul 16, 2014 2:59 PM CUT  George Lucas attends the Apollo Spring Gala and 80th Anniversary Celebration at The Apollo Theater on June 10, 2014 in New York City. George Lucas attends the Apollo Spring Gala and 80th Anniversary Celebration at The Apollo Theater on June 10, 2014 in New York City.Dave Kotinsky—Getty Images  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Jul 16, 2014 2:59 PM CUT The Windy City doesn’t plan to [welcome George Lucas](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/george-lucas-museum-faces-potential-718632 "undefined") with open arms. The billionaire _Star Wars_ creator announced June 24 that he plans to build his private museum in Chicago, choosing a location on Lake Michigan over spots in Los Angeles and San Francisco. But a group of Chicagoans has vowed to file a lawsuit to block Lucas from building his $1 billion facility on the grounds that the private museum violates city ordinances designed to preserve the space next to Lake Michigan for public use, according to the _Hollywood Reporter_. But Bears fans have joined these public space advocates in objecting to the museum’s planned location for a very different reason. The facility is set to be built close to Soldier Field where the Chicago Bears play and will occupy two of the parking lots currently dedicated to the arena. Bears fans are concerned that the museum is honing in on their tailgating space. Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who lobbied hard to bring the museum to Chicago, says that he believes the project will survive legal challenges, [according to](http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-06-24/business/chi-sources-say-chicago-to-win-lucas-museum-20140624%5F1%5Flucas-cultural-arts-museum-mellody-hobson-george-lucas "undefined") the Chicago _Tribune_. He assured Chicagoans that no taxpayer money would be used to build the museum and that the 17-acre plot of land is large enough for both the museum and 12 acres of new green space. He also addressed the question of tailgating, giving no details but saying, “We’ve worked that issue out, and \[tailgating\] will be continued.” The 95,000-square-foot building will house the director and producer’s memorabilia, examples of his technology and paintings by the likes of Norman Rockwell from Lucas’ personal collection. If plans move forward, the George Lucas Museum will sit on the same campus as Chicago’s many other museums, including the Field Museum of Natural History, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Shedd Aquarium, the Adler Planetarium and the Museum of Science and Industry. It is set to open in 2018. \[[_Hollywood Reporter_](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/george-lucas-museum-faces-potential-718632 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2992038/chicago-bears-george-lucas-tailgating-museum/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2992038/chicago-bears-george-lucas-tailgating-museum/"},"headline":"Chicagoans May Sue George Lucas for Stealing Their Tailgating Space","datePublished":"2014-07-16T14:59:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:10:34.606Z","description":"This is not the museum location you're looking for, George","url":"https://time.com/2992038/chicago-bears-george-lucas-tailgating-museum/","keywords":["celebrities"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt09e6ac1bf5cf665b/69869bebadae4418c75442bc/450415170.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt09e6ac1bf5cf665b/69869bebadae4418c75442bc/450415170.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The Apollo Spring Gala And 80th Anniversary Celebration","caption":"The Apollo Spring Gala And 80th Anniversary Celebration","creditText":"Dave Kotinsky—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2992038/chicago-bears-george-lucas-tailgating-museum/","name":"Chicagoans May Sue George Lucas for Stealing Their Tailgating Space"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"‘Star Wars’ Is Delayed Because The Falcon Fell On Ford","description":"It’s been confirmed that production on “Star Wars: Episode VIII” will be delayed for two weeks, and more details have been released on how Harrison Ford got hurt.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/7pxTWcc8/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-07-07T18:22:10.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/7pxTWcc8.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/2992038/chicago-bears-george-lucas-tailgating-museum/","duration":"PT1M44S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/2992038/chicago-bears-george-lucas-tailgating-museum/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```