CHANHASSEN, Minn. (AP) —
UPDATE:
Paisley Park tours will open as scheduled – but only for a few days.
Under the permit, the Paisley Park museum will be open for tours Thursday — the originally announced opening day — Saturday and Oct. 14, Paisley Park said in a statement Tuesday. The new museum will try to accommodate guests holding tickets for other October dates on those three dates; ticket holders will receive emails.
But the full-time operation of the museum may not happen until December. On Monday, the Chanhassen City Council indefinitely postponed voting on a rezoning request by the trust company overseeing the late star’s estate for the complex to be operated as a museum and said Tuesday that it’ll come before the council for another vote “on or before” Dec. 20.
Museum officials knew the risks of selling tickets prior to approval of Bremer Trust’s request, according to a statement from the city of Chanhassen. Paisley Park said it is also in discussions with the Mall of America on an exhibition of Prince artifacts and costumes, which will be open to ticket holders.
Katie Louden, 30, of nearby Chaska, has $100 VIP tickets for her and a friend to tour Paisley Park on Oct. 14. She said the snag will be an inconvenience for fans who’d planned vacations around touring the museum.
“I don’t understand why this became an issue three days before Paisley Park is supposed to open. They announced it was going to be a museum months ago. You would think some of these concerns would have come up then,” Louden said Tuesday.
That zoning change was set aside by the Chanhassen City Council Monday night following more than three hours of discussion and public comment. Several council members said they needed more time to study the impact of opening Paisley Park as a museum.
Paisley Park tours were scheduled to begin Thursday, Oct. 6. It’s not clear when the council will make a final decision on the rezoning request.
The Star Tribune reports that council member Bethany Tjornhom said the community needs time to talk about whether it wants to be a “tourist town” and host an anticipated 600,000 visitors a year.
Prince died of an accidental overdose of the painkiller fentanyl at Paisley Park in April.
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(Photo Source: AP)
