HSFC_2017_01_11

XXXXX• SFChronicle.com |Wednesday,January 11, 2017|A

FROM THE COVER

decision”by Lucas and his
museum’s board of directors,
San FranciscoMayor Ed Lee
said in astatement Tuesday
afternoon. “I am pleased that
the museum will be built in
California for ourstate’ s resi-
dents to some day enjoy.”
Lucas first sought to build
his personalmuseumat Crissy
Field, butwas rebuffedby the
PresidioTrust in 2014.He then
was courtedby Chicago, but
abandoned thatquest inJune
2016 because of legalchalleng-
es.
Since then,Lee andLos
AngelesMayor EricGarcetti
have cultivated Lucas at meet-
ings and via the press — each
saying his citywas the ideal
spot for amuseum that could
start constructionquickly and
attract hundreds of thousands
of visitors ayear.
ChoosingLos Anglesover
San Franciscowas “an ex-
tremely difficultdecision pre-
cisely because of thedesirabili-
ty of both sites and cities,” the
museum board of directors
said inits statement.But put-
ting down roots in SouthLos
Angeles near theUniversity of
Southern California,it said,
“best positions themuseum to
have the greatest impact on the
broader community.”

Garcetti responded to the

news with a jubilant tweet:

“Welcome to LA, @lucasmu-

seum!We’re thrilled to have

this amazingmuseum ...”

The board also praised

“Mayor Ed Lee and the San

Francisco Board of Supervisors

for their tremendous efforts

and engagement,” saying, “We

have beenhumbled by the

overwhelmingly positive sup-

port we received from both San

Francisco andLos Angeles

during our selection process.”

Inde ed, therewas no sign of

opposition to the idea that

Lucas might build a futuristic

metalstructure near the en-

trance toTreasure Island

across from theFerry Building.

Supervisors AaronPeskin and

Jane Kim, often foes ofLee,

were high-profilesupporters.

The island’s developers,who

hope to begin construction

next year onwhateventually

could total 8,000 housing

units, tweaked their plans to

make room for themuseum

alongside awaterfront park.

Lee alluded to the unified

effort in hisstatement, empha-

sizing, “I am proud that our

city came together like never

before todeliver a bold vision

and thoroughly viable plan for

the museum.”

San Francisco’s courtship of

Lucas include d a 30-page bro-

chure delivered last month to

each member of themuseum

board.The city played the local

card, tellingLucas, “It allstart-

ed here andit is only fitting

that this iswhere your legacy

lives on.”

A letter signedby six Bay

Area mayors stressed theaudi-

ence would extend beyond

tourists and “StarWars” geeks.

“The Museum will be partic-

ularly transformative for our

young people, especially those

who ha ve never experienced or

had access to amuseum but

would be drawnby the collec-

tion andits connection to their

lives,” it stated.

Inst ead, Lucas selected the

location in Southern California

— a regionwhere hewent to

collegeat USC but pointedly

chose not to pursue his film-

making career.

In its statement, themuseum

board emphasized the positive.

The ExpositionParkloca-

tion “best positions themuse-

um to have the greatest impact

on the broader community,

fulfilling ourgoal of inspiring,

engaging and educating a

broad and diverse visitorship,”

the statement said. “We look

forward to becoming part of a

dynamicmuseum community,

surroundedby more than 100

elementary and high schools

...”

A similar tonewas struck by

Don Bacigalupi, themuseum’s

president.

“Over the past several

months, I’ve enjo yed so many

lively and collegial conversa-

tions with cultural leaders” in

each city, Bacigalupi toldThe

Chronicle.“This bodeswell for

the opportunitieswe will have

— as a newmuseum — to col-

laborate and partner with in-

stitutions throughout thestate

and beyond.”

One ripple effect of theLu-

cas board’s decision: Direct

ferry service toTreasure Island

from theFerry Building might

begin later than hoped.

The ideawas to build a ter-

minal in tandem with themu-

seum.Now, thoughwater

transportation remains in-

tegral toTreasure Island’s

future, “the ferry can only

comeat a point in timewhere it

makes economic sense,” said

Kofi Bonner, theNorthern

California president forFive-

Point, part of adevelopment

team that include s Lennar,

Stockbridge andWilson Mea-

ny.

Still, Bonner said the compe-

tition had been a plus.

“We’ve gone from having a

good working relationship

with the city to having an excel-

lent one,” Bonner said.“This

allowed us to take another look

at the plan and think through

some infrastructure issues” to

make the redeveloped areas of

the island as enticing as pos-

sible when construction be-

gins.

The goal of Lucas and his

board is to open themuseum

by 2021.

ChronicleArt Critic Charles

Desmarais contributed tothis report.

John King is The San Francisco

Chronicle’s urban designcritic.

Email:jking @sfchronicle.com

Twitter:@johnkingsfchron

Lucas Museum of Narrative Art

This conceptdesign shows what the Lucas Museum ofNarrative Art will look likeat ExpositionPark in Los An geles. Lucas hopesto openthe museum in 2021.

S.F. loses — L.A. gets Lucas museum

Lucas from page A

Wong Maye-E /Associated Press 2014

George Lucas initiallywanted

to build hismuseum in S.F.,

but the design was rejected.

He’s going to Los An geles.

The sagaof GeorgeLucas’ questtobuild his museum of cinematic and
illustrative art, fromSan FranciscotoChicagoand now —Los Angeles.

Early 2010:GeorgeLucas tells the
PresidioTrust, which manages the
former Army postatthefoot of the
Golden GateBridge,that he’d liketo
build a museum on the site of aformer
commissaryatCrissy Field. The leg-
endary filmmakerwould payfor the
museum himself.

October 2012:The DisneyCo.
buysLucasfilmfor $4 billion.

November 2012:The Presidio
Trust announcesa “requestfor con-
cept proposals”for the site,now occu-
piedbySports Basement.

April 2013:Lucas and

two other finalistsare

asked tosubmit proposals.

September 2013:

The Lucas Cultural Arts

Museum, with a design

modeledon thePalaceof

Fine Arts, is unveiled. It

comes withletters of sup-

port from Gov.Jerry Brown,

Sen. Dianne Feinstein,San

Francisco Mayor EdLee

and filmmaker Martin

Scorsese.

November 2013:The Presidio

Trust sends all threeteams backto

the drawing board.In astatement it

praises theLucas concept butsays,

“We havesignificant issues with the

proposed building.”

February 2014:The trustcalls

off thecompetition.Lucas is of-

fered a nearby site,but showsno

interest.

April 2014:Mayor Rahm Eman-

uel of Chicagoappoints ataskforce

tofind a sitefor theLucas Museum,

thelatest step in acourtship that

began months before.

June 24 , 2014:Lucas and his

wife,Chicagonative Mellody Hob-

son,accept Chicago’s offer of a

17-acre site on Lake Michigan. One

monthlater, Chinese architectMa

Yansong is named the museum’s

architect.

November 2014:The design is

releasedfor what now is theLucas

Museum of Narrative Art — a moun-

tain-likestone blob quicklylikened

bycriticstoJabba the Hutt. Chicago

advocacygroup Friends of thePark

filessuit,saying the proposal vio-

lates the city’s Lakefront Plan of

1973 and its ban on private con-

struction.

September 2015:Chicago’s

CityCouncil approves theLucas

proposal.

February 2016:U.S.District

Judge JohnDarrahsaysthelawsuit

may proceed.

June 2016:With litigation likely

to extendfor years,Lucas givesup

on his Chicagoplans and turns his

attention backwest—toTreasure

Island inSan Francisco andExposi-

tionPark inLos Angeles.

October 2016:The

Lucas Museum offers a

glimpse of itsconceptual

designsbyYansongfor

Treasure Island andExpo-

sitionPark.Each has a

futuristic sheen — the one

for Treasure Islandlooks

like a silvery cloud from

some angles, a sleek

platypus skull from others.

January 2017:“After

extensive due diligence

and deliberation,” the

museum’s board of direc-

tors saysthat it has select-

edtheExpositionPark site

tobuild “a global destina-

tion that all Angelenos

andCalifornians will be

proudtocall theirown.”

— John King

Lucasmuseum’slong

roadfromS.F. toL.A.

ArtZendarski /Lucas Cultural Arts Museum 2013

2013:The proposedLucas Cultural ArtsMuseumat
CrissyField was an homage to thePalace ofFine Arts.

Lucas Museum of Narrative Art 2016

2016:The futuristicdesign for theTreasure Island

version ofLucas’ museum can resemble a silvery cloud.

Lucas Museum of Narrative Art 2014

2014:Rendering of the visitor experience on the public

plaza of theLucas Museum ofNarrati ve Art in Chicago.

CENTRALISLIP,N.Y. —A

manwhoasateenagerwasseen
onsurveillancevideoproclaim-
inghiscommitmenttojihad
wassentencedonTuesdayto
yearsinprisondespitehistear-

fulpleastoajudgethathewasa

disillusionedandimmature

highschoolstudentatthetime

heplottedtojoinalQaeda.

“Iamnotthemonsterthatthe

governmentsaysIam,”Justin

KaliebetoldU.S.DistrictCourt

JudgeDenisHurleybefore

beingsentenced.“Ineverin-

tendedtohurtan yone. That’s

notwhoIam.”

Kaliebe,now22yearsold,

alsofaces20yearsofpost-re-

leasesupervision.

ThejudgesaidKaliebe’s

offense“isveryserious.”

“He wasradicalizedtothenth

degree,”thejudgesaid.“Hewasa

verydangerousindividual.Peo-

plewhoengageinthistypeof

activity...must recognizethat

seriousconsequenceswillfol-

low.”

Kaliebewasa16-year-old

highschoolstudentwhohad

recentlyconvertedtoIslam

fromRomanCatholicismwhen

helandedontheradarofun-

dercoveragentsonthehuntfor

would-beradicalsonsuburban

LongIsland.

FBIagentsandNewYork

Citypoliceofficerswatchedhim

for18monthsbeforearresting

himfouryearsagoafterhewent

toJohnF. KennedyInternation-

alAirportintendingtoflyto

Yemen,wherehewouldjointhe

militantgroupalQaeda.

Kaliebepleadedguiltywithina

monthofhisarrest.Hissentenc-

ingwasdelayedforfouryears

whilethecourtheldhearingsinto

whetherheunderstoodthegrav-

ityofhiscrime.HesaidTuesday

thathehasrenouncedIslam,

receivedhishighschooldiploma

whileinprisonandteachesfellow

inmatestoread.

Kaliebe’s attorneysaidhehas

Asperger’ssyndromeandhad

developmentalandpsychological

issuesandatroubledhomelife.

FrankEltmanisanAssociated

Presswriter.

NEWYORK

Man who triedto join

al Qaeda gets 13 years

By Frank Eltman