* Fran Spielman dumps all over the mayor’s Lucas Museum scheme…

At a time when the marathon state budget stalemate has cut off funding to vital social services, state universities and college scholarships to needy students, Emanuel wants to spend political capital, greatly diminished by his handling of the Laquan McDonald shooting video, to keep the Lucas Museum in Chicago on a lakefront site he hopes Friends of the Parks will agree not to challenge.

Specifically, the mayor wants to persuade Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, Democratic legislative leaders and a General Assembly paralyzed by partisan politics to raise five tourism taxes and authorize $1.2 billion in new borrowing to expand McCormick Place. […]

While his top aides were outlining the five tax increases, Emanuel was insisting that there would be “no taxpayers’ support for this effort.”

The mayor can say that with a straight face only because the tourism taxes he wants to extend would be used to expand McCormick Place. Never mind that the expansion would not be necessary if he wasn’t planning to tear down McCormick Place East to make way for the Lucas Museum.

* Joe Cahill at Crain’s piles on…

There may be good reasons to tear down McCormick Place East, the oldest part of Chicago’s lakefront convention complex. But clearing space for “Star Wars” mogul George Lucas’s Museum of Narrative Art isn’t one of them.

Desperate to keep Lucas from taking his museum elsewhere, Mayor Rahm Emanuel is prepared to sacrifice an important economic asset without a well-developed plan to replace it. Late last week, he proposed building the museum on the lakefront site of McCormick Place East, also called Lakeside Center.

The proposal came amid strong indications that a lawsuit filed by advocacy group Friends of the Parks will delay indefinitely, if not block outright, Emanuel’s original plan to put the museum on a parking lot north of the landmark convention hall. The 71-year-old Lucas, meanwhile, apparently is growing impatient to start construction on a museum he hopes to see completed in his lifetime. Emanuel also has high hopes for the Lucas Museum. He believes it would draw throngs of visitors and generate big money for the city.

Perhaps it will. But conventions already draw millions and generate big money for the city. It’s one of our most important industries, a major source of jobs for people around the region and a wellspring of revenue for local hotels, restaurants and myriad other businesses that serve conventions and convention-goers one way or another. And Lakeside Center is an integral part of that industry.

* But one influential group has weighed in today…

Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce: Lucas Museum Net Positive for Chicago

Chicago, IL - The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce continues to be a strong supporter of McCormick Place and the Lucas Museum. McCormick Place is a critical economic engine and the Lucas Museum will deliver long-term benefits for the people of Chicago.

In its first ten years, the museum is projected to create thousands of construction jobs and over 350 permanent jobs. Attracting nearing 1 million visitors to Chicago, the museum could bring $2 billion in spending and generate $120 million in new tax revenue.

Investing in a revitalized McCormick Place and Lucas Museum is a net positive for the city. We will gain a state of the art cultural attraction and an improved convention center complex to enhance the lakefront and the economic climate of Chicago.

…Adding… Oy…

Add the agency that runs McCormick Place to the list of state funding beneficiaries being held hostage by Illinois’ ongoing budget stalemate.

Buried in the details unveiled yesterday of a new proposal to replace the convention center’s east building with the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art was a troubling revelation for the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority: The state owes it a lot of money.

McPier, as the agency is more commonly known, gets up to $15 million each year from the state’s general revenue fund that it uses to lure major events by offering them discounted rent.

For its 2016 shows, the agency and Choose Chicago—the city tourism bureau that actually books the shows—have committed $11.2 million in such incentives. But the state, which is mired in an ongoing battle over its 2016 budget, has not appropriated that money.

…Adding More… The CFL has also weighed in…

Statement from Chicago Federation of Labor President Jorge Ramirez regarding Mayor Emanuel’s plan to move the Lucas Museum to the current site of McCormick Place East

The Chicago Federation of Labor supports Mayor Emanuel’s plan to demolish McCormick Place East to make room for the Lucas Museum. Bringing this museum to Chicago will have a positive economic impact on our city and, more importantly, our working families. Having this one-of-a-kind museum in Chicago will allow our convention and tourism industry to be even more competitive, bringing new business and attracting more visitors to our world class city. The biggest benefit we will see is through the creation of thousands of short-term and long-term jobs for working men and women. It is estimated that approximately 8,000 building and construction trades jobs will be created to perform this work from start to finish. But the job creation doesn’t stop there. Construction jobs typically carry a five to seven multiplier, meaning for every one construction job that is created, five to seven new jobs are created throughout the rest of the workforce. In this case, many of these jobs will fall in our convention and tourism industry, including hotels, restaurants, and airport workers, to name a few. Chicago has the most skilled workforce in the country, so this is a tremendous opportunity for us to grow our economy and create additional jobs for the hardworking men and women of the Chicago area.