An inland jut of the Waukegan Lakefront, with the Commonwealth Edison coal power plant in the background, shows an area where dredging for coal tar residues and PCBs took place.

In the last decade, Waukegan city administrations have actively sought a high-profile commercial enterprise to revitalize its economy and stature in the advent of major industries closing or moving out of the municipality.

Those far-reaching efforts in

cluded a failed bid for the state’s last casino gaming license, which collapsed when powerbroker William Cellini’s involvement was divulged.

On May 9, during the 31st annual Mayor’s Luncheon, a question was asked of Waukegan’s top official, Wayne Motley, concerning an offer to re-locate the embattled George Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, from Chicago to its own lakefront.

“I was listening to the news, and Chicago had issues with a group that kiboshed the museum project, if not temporarily, then permanently,” he said, later that day.

The George Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, initially planned for the Chicago lakefront, is seen in an artist’s rendering. The embattled project was tendered a re-location offer from the city of Waukegan.

“We have 1,400 acres of undeveloped and remediated land on our lakefront, no longer with concerns over contaminants, so I called them. I got a direct connect with a representative of Ms. (Mellody) Hobson. We had discussions about interest in this opportunity … they didn’t say ‘yes,’ and they didn’t say ‘no.’ And the worst-case scenario is that hundreds of thousands of people now have heard, and have a working knowledge, of an opportunity in Waukegan.”

David Motley, the city’s director of communications, said, “I’m proud the inquiry came from the audience, during this annual event of all things Waukegan. In a nutshell, the city has more than 1,000 acres of available lakefront property for them to choose from … anywhere on our lakefront that they’d like to go.”

The Lucas Museum contact was Seth London, Hobson’s assistant. Hobson is a former Chicago native, and the wife of filmmaker George Lucas. Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel touted the effort, after the project was moved from San Francisco, where it met opposition to his city’s lakefront, south of Soldier Field. The city council approved the 300,000-square foot structure last October, and adjacent 12 acres of green space, prompting a lawsuit the following month.

A parking-lot issue was resolved with Soldier Field. The court battle went to “Friends of the Parks,” a Chicago parks preservation group, under the premise that the site on Lake Michigan was not for the legacy of George Lucas and his motion picture memorabilia, but rather for the legacy of public use held in trust, as envisioned by the city’s original lakefront architect, Daniel Burnham.

In the setback’s wake, the McCormick Place and its lakefront area were floated as an alternative site, later turned down, as Hobson had registered her intent to seek other sites.

The proposed Waukegan location is one of contiguous parcels along Sea Horse Drive that once held the industrial giants Outboard Marine Corporation, the Waukegan Coke Plant, and Bombardier Recreational Products. The first two sites, along with Johns-Manville Industries to the north, were grouped as part of a superfund clean-up allotment for contaminants on land and effluent discharge into the harbor.

OMC used polychlorinated biphenyls, a toxic chemical in hydraulic fluids, to manufacture boat motors. The corporation first dredged the harbor for the materials in 1992, but after closing in 2002, the federal Environmental Protection Agency determined the contaminant level to still exceed required levels. The resultant dredging and funding costs of more than $150 million was absorbed by taxpayers, while OMC had contributed around $3 million.

The Coke plant site was contaminated with coal tar residues and arsenic, while the Johns-Manville site was rife with asbestos, a main ingredient in its products.

“It’s ironic that I worked at Johnson Motors (OMC), as a youngster,” said Motley. “Both the OMC and BRP sites have been remediated, and we have a letter of declaration from the EPA. The BRP site is going to demolished starting July 5, and contract stipulations outline that the property is seeded, with grass growing, by Oct. 1, 2016. Seven firms have come for bid on the demolition so far.”

Waukegan formally took possession of the BRP site May 12, after agreeing to purchase it for $1. Problems pushed the matter into the courts, ending with the city purchasing the parcel for $525,000. The amount included nearly $300,000 in delinquent property taxes owed to the municipality, and taxing bodies.

One benefit for potential developers would be an ability to tap into tax-increment financing for assistance in capital improvements such a water and sewer-line infrastructure.

“We’d have to determine how to work this, since they could apply for tax-increment financing funds that are available,” the mayor noted.

Waukegan created three separate TIF districts, extending from Tenth Street, and covering the former U. S. Steel Corporation parking lot and leveled Diamond Scrap Yards, on the south end, to the OMC footprint at its northern extent. All the districts were established in Jan. 2014

The purpose of a TIF is to help improve blighted areas within a municipality.

Once a TIF District is established, the base value is determined. As improvements are made to the property within the TIF, the assessed valuation increases. Any increase over the base value is deposited into a TIF account that is used for economic development. The maximum length of the TIF is 23 years.

The hope is that once the TIF expires, the improvements to the property and subsequent increase in property tax revenue will help local taxing bodies, such as schools.

“This is an exciting time … I met with some more developers, just after the luncheon,” said Motley. “The funny thing is you can see Chicago from our Lakefront.”

Phone requests for comment from the Chicago Office of the Mayor’s press office were not returned. A similar email request, forwarded to the Lucas Museum, was also not returned.