Presidio Trust Rejects ‘Star Wars’ Director’s Museum Plan

The board overseeing San Francisco’s Presidio has set aside plans to redevelop an eight-acre section of the military base-turned-waterfront park, shooting down filmmaker George Lucas’s proposal to build a $700-million museum of popular art on the site, the San Francisco Chronicle and Reuters report.

Mr. Lucas had been competing since last spring with two other would-be developers, the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy and architecture firm WRNS Studio, which proposed environmentally focused cultural centers. The Star Wars filmmaker’s bid was backed by Gov. Jerry Brown, U.S. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, and other political heavyweights.

The seven-member Presidio Trust voted Monday to reject all three ideas. “We simply do not believe any of the projects would be right for this location,” Chairwoman Nancy Hellman Bechtle said at a news conference. “We didn’t think any of them quite hit the mark.” The board said it would offer Mr. Lucas another potential site for the museum, which he first proposed four years ago.