George Lucas, who grew up in Modesto, had originally planned to build his museum in San Francisco, and then Chicago. But those plans were scrapped. Sacramento is making a pitch to bring the museum here.
A local real estate broker says Sacramento and its history is the perfect place.
“I was just like, why are we not being considered?” said.
John Mudgett is leading a grassroots campaign to get the “legendary filmmaker from Modesto” to build his museum here in the capitol city.
Designs for the massive museum were rejected in San Francisco and Chicago. He proposes the Sacramento Railyards.
“It’s one of the largest urban infill projects. A lot of extra land and having a museum right there close to home would be a huge draw,” said Mudgett.
Mudgett is not your go-to Star Wars nerd. He’s a commercial real estate broker who had an idea and began building memes.
“I know it’s a long shot, but I think it’s a long shot that’s worth pursuing,” he said.
He now has an online petition and has city officials talking.
“I think we would roll out the proverbial red carpet,” said Sacramento Councilwoman Angelique Ashby.
Ashby says there’s no better place to tell the Lucas story.
“A place people often come to for a variety of reasons, our capitol, river, museums arts, shows…why not add to our list the spectacular Star Wars history,” she said.
Critics say the Empire Strikes Sac group is stuck in fantasy.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s enough of a fan base here for it to be worthwhile,” said Star Wars fan Chase Williams.
“It’s probably not realistic to bring it here…probably need a more tourist oriented place,” said Chris Yeo, a Star Wars fan.
But for Mudgett, we are just that place.
“Where else is he going to look, L.A. or San Francisco? They’re already crowded with tons of museums,” he said.
Empire Strikes Sac supporters say they have a lot more work to do to get the attention of Lucas.
For now, neither the filmmaker nor his staff has responded to our request for comment on our story.
