Not every city can claim to be the birthplace of the King of Pop. But Gary, Ind., can. In fact, the city’s character bears some striking similarities to its most famous son, Michael Jackson. While both started out with promise, these days Gary — like Michael in the later year — isn’t suitable for children. City officials, however, have a plan to change that.
Last week, Gary mayor Rudy Clay, along with Michael’s father Joe Jackson, announced plans for the construction of a Michael Jackson museum. According to the mayor, it’s just what Gary needs.
“The city is anxious for economic development in the city,” he said, although, the mayor may be speaking too soon.
Located 30 minutes south of Chicago, Gary is often compared to Detroit. Both are crumbling, post-industrial shells crippled by crime, unemployment and endemic corruption. If anything, Gary is the more depressing of the two. Entire blocks of its once-grand main drag appear to be abandoned, giving the city a spooky movie-set feel. It’s hard to see what could revive a town so far gone.
Mayor Clay is undaunted. According to his spokeswoman LaLosa Burns, the Jackson museum will cost approximately $300 million — all of it to be raised from private investors she declined to name. Burns did say that, “plans do not include use of taxpayer dollars.” A timeline for completion has yet to be released, but Burns said the first three phases will take a few years.
Before the project can begin, however, Gary will have to face down a couple of problems. First, is it really a good idea to spend more than a quarter of a billion dollars building a shrine to star who headlined stories regarding underage children almost as much as he headlined concerts? And second, what about obtaining permission from Michael Jackson’s estate?
According to a statement released by Jackson family attorney Howard Weitzman, the Jackson estate “was never consulted about, nor is it involved in, the Jackson Family museum being proposed in Gary, Indiana … These properties cannot be exploited without legally written authorization from the estate.”
Mayor Clay doesn’t flinch. “The magnitude of jobs and economic stimulus and development for Gary will be monumental and shining example for the world to see,” he announced.
Others aren’t so sure. “This happens a lot,” says Craig Ladwig, Director of the Indiana Policy Review Foundation. “Some city comes up with a noble purpose like economic development. But no independent economic authority shows that this kind of thing produces wealth. You cannot find an economist who says this makes sense. It’s just a sham from start to finish.”