New Lucas Museum plan would require borrowing $1.2B, report says

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Building the Lucas Museum is going to require $1.2 billion in borrowed money, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants to build the museum at the lakefront site now occupied by McCormick Place East.

The borrowed money would reportedly be needed to reconfigure the convention center complex and replace space lost at the building that would be razed. Mayor Emanuel supports the plan.

"I think this is a win win win. You get about 12 acres of open land that you never had before and maintain," Emanuel said.

The city proposed razing McCormick Place East for the museum after the group Friends of the Parks objected to the original site just south of Soldier Field.