The hometown of the late pop icon Michael Jackson is celebrating the legacy he and his family left behind with a new facility. On Wednesday, Gary, Indiana Mayor Rudy Clay announced plans to erect the Jackson Family Center in the Midwest city. Jackson family patriarch Joe Jackson was at his side for the announcement. According to the “Gary Post Tribune,” the large center will be funded completely by donations instead of tax payer dollars. It will feature a Michael Jackson Performing Arts Center, housing, a hotel, and an elevated rail. The finished Jackson Family Center will sit in Glen Park and may also feature a museum. The Jackson Family Center is expected to cost 300-million-dollars and is expected to take three-to-five years to build. Ground will be broken on the project in early 2011.
There is some opposition to the facility. Michael Jackson’s estate lawyers have already stepped forward to say it won’t happen without their consent. Lawyer Howard Weitzman says, quote, “The Estate of Michael Jackson was never consulted about it, nor is it involved in the Jackson Family museum being proposed in Gary.”
