Famous architect Helmut Jahn on Thursday said movie mogul George Lucas is unlikely to compromise on the design of his proposed museum because people who pony up millions of dollars to build memorials to themselves aren't prone to giving in.

A revised artist's rendering shows a cutaway of the planned Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.
A revised artist's rendering shows a cutaway of the planned Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.

The 76-year-old architect, praised for much of his work but also vilified in some quarters for his design of the Thompson Center that houses state government in downtown Chicago, made his comments at City Hall. The Plan Commission has just recommended approval of his plan to build a new 73-story residential tower on South Michigan Avenue — dubbed "Big Jahn" by one approving speaker during the public comment portion of the meeting.

Afterward, Jahn was asked about Mayor Rahm Emanuel's plan to borrow $1.2 billion to tear down the above-ground portion of McCormick Place's Lakeside Center convention hall to make way for the proposed Lucas Museum of Narrative Arts. The "Star Wars" filmmaker would contribute $743 million, but taxpayers would cover the rest of the initial cost plus interest on the 40-year bonds that would be issued to finance it.

Before that idea was floated, Jahn had provided Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin with a sketch that showed the current roof of Lakeside Center being maintained as a trellis, with the Lucas Museum emerging through its top.

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