Los Angeles beats San Francisco for George Lucas museum site

FILE - This undated file concept design provided by the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art shows a rendering of their proposed museum, just west and north of the Coliseum in Exposition Park in Los Angeles. "Star Wars" creator George Lucas and his team announced Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017, they have chosen Los Angeles over San Francisco as the home of the museum that will showcase his work. After what organizers called an extremely difficult decision, they announced Tuesday that the museum will be built in Exposition Park in Los Angeles, where it will sit alongside other more traditional museums. (Lucas Museum of Narrative Art via AP, File) FILE - This undated file concept design provided by the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art shows a rendering of their proposed museum, just west and north of the Coliseum in Exposition Park in Los Angeles. "Star Wars" creator George Lucas and his team announced Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017, they have chosen Los Angeles over San Francisco as the home of the museum that will showcase his work. After what organizers called an extremely difficult decision, they announced Tuesday that the museum will be built in Exposition Park in Los Angeles, where it will sit alongside other more traditional museums. (Lucas Museum of Narrative Art via AP, File)

By Associated Press January 10, 2017 3 min read

LOS ANGELES (AP) – The force, it seems, was with Los Angeles. And San Francisco was left on the dark side.

“Star Wars” creator George Lucas and his team were on the side of the City of Angels over the City by the Bay on Tuesday, choosing LA as the home of a museum that will showcase his life’s work and huge film history collection.

After what organizers called “extensive due diligence and deliberation,” they announced that the museum will be built in Exposition Park in Los Angeles, where it will sit alongside other more traditional museums including the California Science Center and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

Lucas has been trying to build the museum, called The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, for nearly a decade, and is financing the project by himself with plans to spend over $1 billion.

The appealing project became the source of yet another heated rivalry between the two always-competing cities, with San Francisco offering Treasure Island with its scenic views in the middle of the bay as a home that the museum would have had virtually to itself.