Building a replica of Michael Jackson's Gary, Ind., boyhood home in the city's downtown area could be part of a plan Mayor Rudy Clay is expected to announce Wednesday to celebrate the King of Pop and breathe new life into a city starving for economic development.
The project also might include a museum honoring Jackson, who died in June, and his family's journey to stardom from humble beginnings, as well as a performing arts center and a hotel, according to Chuck Hughes, executive director of the Gary Chamber of Commerce. He said Clay showed him sketches of the proposed museum a few weeks ago.
Details remain vague. The Gary City Council hasn't seen the proposed plans, and Clay could not be reached for comment. He is in Las Vegas and, along with Michael Jackson's father, Joe Jackson, is expected to make an announcement about the museum Wednesday at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, said Simon Sahouri, who publishes Las Vegas Hollywood Magazine and is coordinating the announcement.
A spokeswoman for Clay referred questions to Sahouri, who would not provide further details.
The Jackson Museum Performing Arts Center Corp. was created in July, according to a filing with the Illinois secretary of state's office. Odie Anderson, a clothing store owner who hosted a birthday party for Joe Jackson and a fundraiser for the memorial project at his Tinley Park home this summer, is listed as the business agent. Other public records list him as the president. He declined to comment.
Some council members say it's too soon to say if a tribute to Michael Jackson will be built, given that the idea has been floated for years. The Gary City Council would have to approve the proposed project.
Council member Kimberly Robinson, who represents the district that includes the Jackson home, said she'd be happy if anything memorializing Michael Jackson would shine a positive light on Gary and generate revenue for the cash-strapped city.
"I just believe that if we got a mere dollar just by everyone coming to take a picture" of the former Jackson home, the museum and performing arts center "would fund itself," Robinson said. "I would just hate for people to keep coming here, and that's all they see and all they do."
--Kristen Schorsch
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