Opponents of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to allow George Lucas to build his museum on the lakefront will file a lawsuit in federal court on Thursday, the group told the Tribune.
Friends of the Parks President Cassandra Francis said the group will use “public trust doctrine” to make its legal case against the proposed museum site, which currently is home to two Chicago Park District parking lots south of Soldier Field.
Fred Bates, vice chair on the group’s board, said the group views the land as “reclaimed navigable waterway” and suggested that the group’s legal strategy could hinge on that argument.
Such a strategy would be a departure from what the group has argued in other cases involving development on the lakefront – that such proposals defy the longstanding ban on further private development east of Lake Shore Drive.
More to come
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