George Lucas and his wife Melody Hobson today stopped in South L.A. to check in on the progress of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Exposition Park. The museum was initially planned to be built near Soldier Field in Chicago, but fell off in June 2016 after negotiations. LA Mayor Garcetti was alongside the couple as they toured the construction site. Garcetti said that being up close drives home the scale of the project.
"To know that they're building with one of the biggest cranes anywhere in America being imported from Texas just to put down some of the steel that will go on top," Mayor Eric Garcetti said.
"This is the size of a mid-size aircraft carrier being built right here right here at Exposition Park."
The museum will be dedicated to visual storytelling. Earlier this summer, curators gave San Diego's Comic Con a sneak peak at the $1 billion project. The new space will feature 2 theaters, 2 restaurants, and nearly 11 acres of open outdoor space. Fans can expect to see plenty of Star Wars memorabilia, but also balanced mixture of art.
"We're attempting to eliminate the hierarchy between so-called high art and commercial art, placing them on the same plane," said one of the curators, Ryan Linkoff. "While many museums pay lip service to this kind of inclusive appreciation of visual culture, we are truly unique and make this central to the museum's identity."
The museum, which initially broke ground in March 2018, is expected to open in 2022 and workers are a little less than halfway through construction.