George Lucas Chooses Otoh Gunga for New Museum
Citing overwhelming community support and a deep love of Gungan culture, George Lucas has selected the city of Otoh Gunga on Naboo for his Museum for Narrative Art. The “underwater jewel” bested several of Earth’s most prized cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago and Lucas’ native San Francisco, for the coveted museum.
According to Boss Nass, the outspoken leader of the Gungans, the 275,000-square foot museum will provide tens of thousands of jobs in underwater construction. Nass estimated the number of permanent jobs created by the museum at more than a thousand — “and that’s a — [bllllooooggagagao] — lowball estimate.”
“People will visit from around the galaxy to see the original Darth Vader mask and — bllllooooggagagao — Norman Rockwell paintings,” he said.
The decision marks the end of an arduous road for Lucas, who has spent years trying to find a home for his art collection, which consists of about 10,000 paintings and illustrations including works by Rockwell, N.C. Wyeth and R. Crumb, as well as Hollywood memorabilia from films such as The Ten Commandments and of course Star Wars, including over 300 statues of Gungan national treasure Jar Jar Binks.
Despite Lucas’ best intentions to keep the museum on his native planet Earth, the legendary filmmaker was thwarted by community opposition and resistance from local politicians.
The winning proposal by Naboo, featured a revolutionary design by Neimoidian architect Ma Yansong. Lucas’ Museum for Narrative Art is set to be the galaxy’s first hybrid tourist attraction that exists both above ground on Lake Paonga and below sea level on Otoh Gunga.
The museum board called Lake Paonga “a magnet for the region and accessible from all parts of the galaxy.” It also noted the location is “surrounded by more than 100 elementary and high schools, one of the Naboo’s leading universities as well as three other world-class museums.”
The cost of the project has been pegged at about $1 billion galactic credits with the costs borne almost entirely by Lucas. The gift to the city of Otoh Gunga comes along with Lucas’s extensive art collection and an endowment of at least $400 million credits. At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Nass said the museum amounts to the largest gift in intergalactic history from one family to a planetary city.
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