Bill to demolish part of McCormick Place along lakefront gets labor support
Chicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter is beating the drum for a plan to demolish the above-ground portion of Lakeside Center, the oldest McCormick Place building, and replace the lost convention space with a new building over Martin Luther King Drive.
Insiders said the partial teardown of Lakeside Center could result in additional parkland along the lakefront and that below-ground portions of the building, such as the Arie Crown Theater, could still be preserved.
Three years ago, then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel proposed tearing down the outmoded hulk that is Lakeside Center to make way for movie mogul George Lucas' museum featuring a giant green roof.
It was a last-stab at salvaging for Chicago a project that ultimately went to Los Angeles when Lucas got fed up with the court battle that blocked Emanuel's plan to build the Lucas Museum on a parking lot near Soldier Field.
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