A task force appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel has recommended the parking lots to the south of Soldier Field as the home for filmmaker George Lucas' collection of art and movie memorabilia, should the 'Star Wars' creator choose Chicago over San Francisco for his planned museum.



Lucas is expected to select a site for his Lucas Cultural Arts Museum this summer, according to a museum spokeswoman.



The proposed site, two Chicago Park District-owned parking lots, are located between the stadium and McCormick Place and within walking distance of the Museum Campus.



The land would be leased to the museum for $1, which is similar to the arrangement other large cultural institutions have with the Chicago Park District. However, unlike other museums, the Lucas museum would not receive taxpayer subsidies to cover a portion of its operations, said senior mayoral adviser David Spielfogel.



The task force's theory is that the museum, which would hold artwork and more than 500,000 pieces of movie memorabilia, would draw in conventioneers on foot while also creating a new lakefront park on land that is now asphalt, according to the 56-page reported obtained by The Tribune.



"The recommendation is very thoughtful and a fitting site for the type of museum and educational partner the city of Chicago is looking for, and it would complete our museum campus, which is world class and brings people from all over the world," Emanuel said Tuesday.



The site is about 15 acres and the footprint of a museum the size of The Field Museum would be about 5 acres, leaving 10 acres for new parkland, said Spielfogel.



Meanwhile, the lots, known as the south surface lot and the Waldron parking deck/garage, which are home to thousands of tailgaters during Bears' home games, would be moved underground at Lucas' expense, according to a city official. The report does not detail if or where tailgating would be permitted in that area; but grills and open fire pits already are prohibited in the stadium's north garage.



"You can kiss tailgating at Soldier Field as we know it good-bye if this deal gets done," said Rob Radulski of Algonquin who attends tailgates in those lots. "Where would thousands of people go? There are plenty of locations south of McCormick Place down the lakefront to build on. Why not expand economically there?"



The Bears said they were not warned of the task force's recommendation in advance.



"We learned of the task force's recommendation this morning and have not had an opportunity to review the report," the Bears said in a statement Tuesday. "Mayor Emanuel called us to stress his commitment to working together to create a win-win situation for everyone."



Also unknown is whether Chicago will win the museum at all. Lucas launched his career and spent most of his life in the San Francisco region. That city's mayor, Ed Lee, has given his staff until the end of May to come up with its own proposed site or list of sites.



Lucas also is weighing another site in San Francisco, this one controlled by the board of a national park known as The Presidio Trust. Earlier this year that park board rejected Lucas' preferred bayside location near Crissy Field, which offered jaw-dropping views of the Golden Gate Bridge, and offered up what is widely viewed as a less-desirable alternative.



That rebuff opened up the door for Chicago, where Lucas lives part-time with his wife, Ariel Investments president Mellody Hobson. And the task force was under direction from Lucas to return to him with something "iconic."



"We thank the City of Chicago for its enthusiastic support of this project and the committee members for their hard work and dedication," a spokeswoman for the museum said in an e-mailed statement. "We look forward to reviewing the site recommendation."



The task force looked at 57 potential sites. It eliminated far flung locales, such as the historic Pullman neighborhood, because they are difficult to access and others, such as Harpo Studios in the West Loop and "the space above Union Station," because they either weren't big enough or didn't offer a backdrop for "an iconic structure."



The task force also tossed existing structures, such as Navy Pier and the old Main Post Office, because Lucas has made it clear he wants to build a free-standing museum of his own, which will house one of the world's greatest collections of Norman Rockwell illustrations, among other artwork.



And finally, the task force eliminated a list of seemingly viable sites, such as the old Michael Reese Hospital site or building over Metra tracks at several locations in the vein of a Millennium Park, because Emanuel had required a "site that did not require taxpayer expense to prepare."



The field was then narrowed to five finalists: the parking lots, Washington Park, Jackson Park, Northerly Island, and "Grant Park-South End," described as being bordered by Michigan Avenue to the west and Roosevelt Road to the south.



Emanuel has vowed not to spend taxpayer money on the museum. It remains to be seen whether that commitment will stand.



The report makes no mention of whether Lucas would be given the land for the museum for free. Eleven city museums, from the Art Institute of Chicago to the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, known collectively as the "Museums in the Park," lease Chicago Park District land for free and receive taxpayer money that subsidizes a portion of their operations.



Gary Johnson, the chief executive of the Chicago History Museum and the president of the Museums in the Park association, said that he would expect the Lucas museum to join the group but that it was his understanding that Lucas is not interested in receiving the taxpayer subsidies the other museums do. Tuesday morning the association issued a statement saying it welcomes the Soldier Field parking lot location.



"All of us believe in the power of a successful tourist strategy that would lift all of our boats," Johnson said in an interview. "Anytime we give people who've never been here before a reason to come and check us out is going to help all of us."



Still, the report does recommend taxpayer-funded transportation improvements to the area surrounding Soldier Field and the Museum Campus.



Among them: Establishing a special bus route or rerouting the city's existing No. 10 (Museum of Science and Industry) bus to the site; improving the 18th Street Metra stop; establishing a dedicated trolley service from the Loop to the site; upgrading 31st Street to handle additional traffic; adding bike paths; connecting the site to Northerly Island via a pedestrian bridge, etc.



"We looked at the population that could reach it in 30 minutes travel time or 60 minutes travel time," said task force co-chair Kurt Summers Jr. "It was around 2.5 million people in 60 minutes and 650,000 people in 30 minutes. That's a great footprint. But we wanted to propose ways that we could enhance it, to make that commute even easier."



The report contained no estimated price tag for those improvements.