I think it is too. I think it is good for Gary, Indiana to have this museum and center.
There is this article:
link:
http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/47457298.html
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=+1]
Joe Jackson's back in Gary today, still trying to bank on Michael in death[/SIZE][/FONT]
GARY | Construction of a performing arts center, museum, hotel and mega entertainment complex honoring Michael Jackson and his family are expected to be part of a major announcement today in Gary.
The Jacksons got their start in Gary, and patriarch Joe Jackson is back in the city this week.
Tuesday, he visited his former house at 2300 Jackson Street for an unveiling of a monument to his late son, King of Pop Michael Jackson. Later, Joe Jackson joined Gary Mayor Rudy Clay and Jackson Family Foundation President Simon Sahouri at the Gary Access Center, 839 Broadway, to tape a segment for a local cable show called "Eye on Gary News," hosted by LaLosa Burns, spokeswoman for Clay.
Joe Jackson dropped the words "recording studio" and "golf course" during discussion of the project, but Burns said details of the plan should be saved until today's announcement.
She said that, for years, people have talked about a Jackson family museum and performing arts and cultural center coming to Gary. She asked Joe Jackson why now is a good time for the project.
He referred to The Jackson 5 song, "Goin' Back to Indiana," and said although his son Michael is no longer around, Joe Jackson is here to carry on his legacy. Other stars who started their rise in the city have not returned to Gary, but the Jackson legacy will, he said.
"I've never seen nowhere where they brought something back," he said. "We're bringing something back."
Clay told The Times last week that the project site being explored is close to the Borman Expressway.
Sahouri said Joe Jackson insisted on having this project in Gary to create jobs, continue the Jackson legacy and to make Gary a destination, attracting people from around the world.
Jackson said it's something his son Michael Jackson would have wanted. He wanted to give back to Gary. June 25 marks one year since Michael Jackson died in Los Angeles at age 50.
Other cities wanted this project, but Joe Jackson stood firm on having it in Gary, Clay said.
Clay estimated it will draw hundreds of thousands of people each year, and the development will serve as a magnet, attracting other businesses into the city. In the United States alone, 10 million people are members of Michael Jackson's fan club, Clay said.
"This is our moment in time," he said.
Burns said she's almost certain that businesses will be knocking on Gary's door after today's announcement.
link:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5izfLTkEdoMM173iPlkZOW1r_G6YwD9G3DDNO1
Jackson's hometown moves ahead with museum plans By KAREN HAWKINS (AP) – 55 minutes ago
GARY, Ind. — Michael Jackson's father and Gary officials announced plans Wednesday to move ahead with a long-delayed performing arts center to help revitalize the late singer's hometown, drawing cautious optimism from residents who say they've heard this song many times before.
Work on the $300 million museum and performing arts center could begin as early as next year, said Gary Mayor Rudy Clay, acknowledging this isn't the first time city officials have made promises about the project.
"The question has been asked: Why now, why Gary, is it really going to happen?" Clay said. "Now is the time. We've got to seize the moment."
Jackson left Gary as a child and visited just once, in June 2003, to announce plans for the center. No details were given then about how the center would be paid for, and the financial plans were equally vague Wednesday.
Clay said money to build the Jackson Family Museum and Hotel and the Michael Jackson Performing Arts and Cultural Center and Theaters would come from the Jackson Family Foundation, investors and donations. But neither he nor Joe Jackson said how much the foundation would chip in or how much investors have pledged.
No progress was made on the project before Michael Jackson's death last year. His father, Joe Jackson, said Wednesday that he's "just carrying out his legacy" by getting involved.
"This is a happy day for me because this is something that my family and Michael have always wanted," Joe Jackson said. "We're bringing something back."
When the cash-strapped city held a memorial for Michael Jackson last July, Clay said officials paid $5,000 to fly Joe Jackson and seven other people from Los Angeles to attend. He didn't say whether the city paid for Jackson's travel this time.
Michael Jackson spent the first 11 years of his life in Gary. The family moved after the Jackson 5 struck it big in 1969. By that time, the steel industry, in which Joe Jackson had worked, had started to decline. Over the years, the city's unemployment and poverty rates soared, crime increased and the population dwindled.
Clay said the museum and performing arts center would create thousands of jobs and, when finished, was expected to bring at least 750,000 visitors a year to the city. He estimated it would generate $100 million to $150 million in income for the community each year.
"This project will be the magnet that will draw people from all over the world," Clay said.
In comparison, Graceland, Elvis Presley's home in Memphis, draws an estimated 600,000 visitors a year, according to the website for Presley's estate.
After years of promises about the project but no progress, residents in this gritty city 30 miles southeast of Chicago were cautiously optimistic. People said they were hopeful because Wednesday's announcement was the furthest along the project has ever come, with the city donating 300 acres of land.
Police Chief Gary O. Carter was impressed by Joe Jackson's presence.
"Why would he come all the way here if it wasn't" going to happen, Carter said.
Seretha Harvey, 24, grew up in Gary and said she hoped the project would happen, and that it would bring jobs and help change people's image of the financially struggling city.
"I've been in and out of Gary for the past few years, and I've seen it deteriorate. I'm worried about whether this is actually going to matriculate," she said, but added, "I'm optimistic about it."
Jackson's hometown donates land for museum
Last Updated: Wednesday, June 2, 2010 | 4:18 PM ET Comments4Recommend7
CBC News
Mayor Rudy Clay, right, describes plans for the proposed Michael Jackson museum during a news conference Wednesday in Gary, Ind., as Joe Jackson, the late singer's father, looks on. (John Smierciak/Associated Press)Michael Jackson's father joined officials in the late pop singer's Indiana hometown on Wednesday to announce plans for a $300 million US museum and arts centre in his honour.
"This is a happy day for me because this is something that my family and Michael have always wanted," Joe Jackson said. "We're bringing something back [to Gary, Ind.]."
Jackson said he was "just carrying out [his son's] legacy" by getting involved.
"This project will be the magnet that will draw people from all over the world," said Gary Mayor Rudy Clay in announcing that about 120 hectares of city property would be donated for the centre.
He estimated that the project would create thousands of jobs, draw hundreds of thousands of visitors to the financially struggling city and generate more than $100 million US for the community.
Money for the project — which entails a Jackson family museum as well as a performing arts centre and theatre facility named after Michael Jackson — will come from investors and donations, Clay added.
All of Joe and Katherine Jackson's children were born in Gary. The family moved to Los Angeles in the 1970s, spurred by the success of the Jackson Five.
The late King of Pop last visited Gary in 2003 to discuss building a museum and cultural centre. No progress was made before his sudden death in June 2009.
Jackson is buried outside of Los Angeles in Glendale's Forest Lawn Cemetery.
With files from The Associated Press
h34r: A great example is the tribute to Rome that some family members will participate and such convention of fans that will happen in Gary. Jermaine, all he organizes is canceled. :doh: :bugeyed
