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GARY, Ind. (STNG) - Joe Jackson, father of Michael and Janet Jackson, came home to Gary, Ind. for the first time in several years Tuesday and he gave his blessing to the latest plan to build a museum honoring him and his famous family.
It's an idea that Gary Mayor Rudy Clay concedes is in its earliest stages and one that has yet to be approved by any other members of the Jackson family.
Jackson is the patriarch of the legendary Jackson 5 band, which auditioned for Motown Records 40 years ago today. The family grew up in a small home at 2300 Jackson St. in Gary.
Jackson's visit began at City Hall, where he participated in a roundtable discussion with Clay and announced his support for a Jackson Family museum.
"It's a great pleasure for me to be here and see all of this going on," Jackson said.
David Loeb of Illinois-based Land Partners LLC and Chuck Hamburg of Chicago-based Creative Hospitality Associates are among the developers planning the museum. Hamburg is also a professor at Roosevelt University.
The museum would be built on a five-acre parcel at 2600 Grant St., on land owned by the city near Interstate 80/94.
The idea of a Jackson Family museum has been tossed around in Gary before. In the 1990s, a group led by then-Mayor Thomas Barnes said every member of the Jackson Family but Michael agreed in principle to co-sponsor an entertainment center and museum.
That project, which would have been located at Interstates 65 and 94, died after former Mayor Scott King took office.
Standing outside Dusties Southern Style Buffet on Tuesday, Jackson said the city doesn't need the approval of any of his children to build the museum.
"I'm Joe Jackson," he said. "I don't need them to approve anything."
Loeb said Joe Jackson's support will be crucial to the new museum plan, but he said several decisions need to be made in the next few months. No date, he said, has been set for groundbreaking or completion.
"We've got a lot to do in a short period of time," Loeb said.
Sketches of the proposed building include a theater and an outdoor LED screen facing I-80/94. There is also talk of moving the Jacksons' former home from 2300 Jackson St. to the site of the museum.
Joe Jackson, who is promoting his new reality show, stood outside that home Tuesday. He helped the mayor unveil an honorary street sign naming 23rd Avenue "2300 Jackson Street" and Jackson Street "Jackson Family Boulevard."
Cameras were rolling during the event, and a producer for Jackson's show "Meet Joe Jackson" said video from his visit to Gary might be included in an episode.
Clay declared Tuesday "Joe Jackson Day," and he gave Jackson a key to the city.
"This key will open the door to the Jackson Museum," Clay said.
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