Lucas Museum Hits A Final Hurdle: The Chicago Bears

By Kate Shepherd in News on Oct 21, 2015 5:22PM

Designs for the Lucas Museum (Lucas Museum of Narrative Art)

Negotiations with the Chicago Bears over tailgating space are delaying a final vote to approve the Lucas Museum.

The final City Council vote on the plans for the museum was expected to happen today but has been postponed for at least a week, pending another round of negotiations with the Bears, according to the Sun-Times.

The Bears are supportive of the $400 million interactive museum but the team's fans will lose Soldier Field's south parking lot, which is popular for tailgating, in the current deal. The museum's plans include a parking structure on the west side of Lake Shore Drive and its own underground parking garage that would provide parking during Bears games, and an outdoor "event prairie" tailgating lawn next to the museum. It would only provide tailgating spots for 560 cars.

The NFL team is holding out for a better deal with the museum.

"They still have some negotiations and discussions to do with the Bears. It's their parking lot being effected. They have a lease. They need to get some sort of agreement with them," a source familiar with the negotiations told the Sun-Times. "The issue is the Bears feel they should be compensated for being sort of infringed upon. They like the idea of the museum. They see it as worthwhile effort. But they're going to be inconvenienced."