The Los Angeles Planning Commission has officially approved on Star Wars creator George Lucas’ plans to build the long-gestating Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Exposition Park.

The decision was finalised yesterday (11 May), according to news service NBC Los Angeles.

New renderings and information released by Lucas and MAD Architects, who have designed the spacecraft-like museum, reveal the latest iteration of the green lit project.

The museum will have five storeys and cover 300,000sq ft (27,800sq m). It will house exhibition spaces and galleries, a cafe and top-floor restaurant, two theatres, office space, lecture halls, a library and classrooms.

New design tweaks include the addition of an artificial waterfall and the expansion of the building's landscaped roof, bringing the total amount of new public green space on the site to 11 acres.

"There is no better home for the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art than at Exposition Park, and today we moved one step closer to building it right here in the city’s Ninth District," said councilman Curren Price, according to NBC.

"If you look around Expo Park, you'll see it is experiencing a resurgence with exciting developments like the Los Angeles Football Club Soccer Stadium, renovation of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, and now, what will be a world-renowned cultural institution with the Lucas Museum."

When finished, the museum will house Lucas’ collection of 40,000 paintings, comics, illustrations and film-related items, including props and storyboards from Star Wars.

The Hollywood legend has described it as “a barrier free museum where artificial divisions between ‘high’ art and ‘popular’ art are absent, allowing you to explore a wide array of compelling visual storytelling.”