GARY — Mayor Rudy Clay unveiled grand plans for a Jackson Family Center in Glen Park today featuring residential housing, elevated rail, a hotel and a “Michael Jackson Performing Arts Center and Concert Hall.”
But hours later, an attorney for Michael Jackson’s estate told the Post-Tribune it is considering its own “world-class museum” and has no connection to the Gary projec
The Gary Board of Public Works and Safety transferred land between the Borman Expressway, 35th Avenue, Grant Street and Broadway to the Jackson Family Foundation for the project minutes before Wednesday’s press conference was set to begin.
Clay, joined by Jackson Family patriarch Joe Jackson and Jackson Family Foundation President Simon Sahouri, insisted the museum would be built, ending decades of promises. The only thing that could stop it, he said, is “Gary people,” and he asked them not to “poison the soup.”
“This one is beyond politics,” Clay said.
Sahouri said a feasibility study will be conducted this year, and he said ground will be broken on the project early in 2011.
Susan Severtson, Gary’s corporation counsel, said the city and the foundation are still seeking consent from Michael Jackson’s estate to use his name and image in the project.
“We believe that that’s part and parcel of the legacy of the Jackson Family,” Severtson said.
But Howard Weitzman, the estate’s attorney, said the estate “was never consulted about, nor is it involved in, the Jackson Family museum being proposed in Gary, Indiana.”
“Michael Jackson’s music, name, likeness, memorabilia and other intellectual property are assets exclusively owned by the Estate for the benefit of his children,” Howard Weitzman said in a written statement. “These properties cannot be exploited legally without written authorization from the Estate.”
Asked about the legal issues with the estate, Clay referred to Michael Jackson’s 2003 comment that he wanted a performing arts center built in Gary. He said someone will always try to stop a positive project from happening in his city.
“It never fails,” Clay said.
http://www.post-trib.com/news/2346884,jackmus-602.article
But hours later, an attorney for Michael Jackson’s estate told the Post-Tribune it is considering its own “world-class museum” and has no connection to the Gary projec
The Gary Board of Public Works and Safety transferred land between the Borman Expressway, 35th Avenue, Grant Street and Broadway to the Jackson Family Foundation for the project minutes before Wednesday’s press conference was set to begin.
Clay, joined by Jackson Family patriarch Joe Jackson and Jackson Family Foundation President Simon Sahouri, insisted the museum would be built, ending decades of promises. The only thing that could stop it, he said, is “Gary people,” and he asked them not to “poison the soup.”
“This one is beyond politics,” Clay said.
Sahouri said a feasibility study will be conducted this year, and he said ground will be broken on the project early in 2011.
Susan Severtson, Gary’s corporation counsel, said the city and the foundation are still seeking consent from Michael Jackson’s estate to use his name and image in the project.
“We believe that that’s part and parcel of the legacy of the Jackson Family,” Severtson said.
But Howard Weitzman, the estate’s attorney, said the estate “was never consulted about, nor is it involved in, the Jackson Family museum being proposed in Gary, Indiana.”
“Michael Jackson’s music, name, likeness, memorabilia and other intellectual property are assets exclusively owned by the Estate for the benefit of his children,” Howard Weitzman said in a written statement. “These properties cannot be exploited legally without written authorization from the Estate.”
Asked about the legal issues with the estate, Clay referred to Michael Jackson’s 2003 comment that he wanted a performing arts center built in Gary. He said someone will always try to stop a positive project from happening in his city.
“It never fails,” Clay said.
http://www.post-trib.com/news/2346884,jackmus-602.article
