Fans and mourners of the Purple One will only have three days to visit Prince‘s famous Paisley Park home, before the proposed public opening is delayed until at least late December.
Earlier this year it was announced that public museum tours of Paisley Park were to commence in October – this week. The proposed tours were set to take visitors throughout his studios, rehearsal rooms and so on, including a display of his costumes, awards and instruments alongside video footage and rare recordings.
The zoning request for this permit was this week delayed by the local council, who requested extra time to assess the effect that this will have on traffic conditions, parking, public safety and more in surrounding areas. Considering that they estimate up to 600,000 fans will visit the area each year, typically holding a population of just 24,000, it makes a lot of sense. The council are yet to decide whether or not they are ready to become a tourist destination.
The Chanhassen Villager reports that the city will have until December 23 to come to a decision. In the meantime a temporary three day permit has been granted for visitors to see the property now, as originally planned.
The primary reason for this is because hundreds of attendees have already purchased tickets (priced around US$100) for the tours, many of whom have visited the area especially to do so. According to Yahoo, the museum will attempt to host an entire months’ worth of guests in just three days.
Since Prince passed away on April 21 at age fifty-seven, the Chanhassen, Minnesota property has become an immense shrine for the late legend. I visited the property myself in August, and was astounded by the staggering the amount of banners, posters, items of clothing, personal notes, flowers and more still adorning the enormous lengths of wire guarding the stark white complex.
After the first three days, the property will then close once more until December, at which time the council will have to make a decision to approve or reject the request.
Representatives of Paisley Park have also announced that they are in talks with the Mall of America, Minneapolis’ nearby major tourist attraction, to exhibit Prince costumes and artefacts in the meantime.
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