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Prince’s Paisley Park: Will Paisley Park Be Minnesota’s Next Tourist Attraction?

By Merry Strong
Published on: 19:17 PST, Jun 10, 2016

Will Paisley Park, Prince’s huge Chanhassen compound, be Minnesota’s next tourist attraction? At this point, while it’s entirely possible, no one really knows for sure. Only time and the actions of the administrator of Prince’s estate will tell.

According to a Los Angeles Times report, Prince shared a desire with several of his friends, years before he died. The music icon wanted to transform Paisley Park into a museum. Now that Prince is gone and there’s no will to be found, the possibility is seemingly greater than ever before.

Prince’s untimely death leaves everything up in the air. Finding him dead, in the place he loved most, is still a blow to millions of his fans. There’s no way to determine just how long the world will mourn Prince.

That being said, turning Prince’s Paisley Park compound into a museum would allow fans to better get to know the musical genius they loved. It would be a way to connect with him, on a more personal level.

Shortly after Prince’s death on April 21, his longtime friend Sheila E. told Entertainment Tonight that he was already working on plans to make Paisley Park a museum. This included gathering all kinds of career-related memorabilia. As you might guess, his motorcycle from Purple Rain was high on the list.

Another one of Prince’s close friends, Jeremiah Freed, aka Dr. Funk, recently stated that Prince’s ideas about the museum kept evolving. He really wanted to come up with a way for fans to get the most out of his secret archive of never-released music and videos. He wanted it to be different and exciting, with each Paisley Park visit.

When asked about her thoughts regarding the transformation of Paisley Park, Meredith Rutledge-Borger (associate curator at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum) made the following statement.

“Prince had the kind of stature that should generate fan interest for many years. It’s a wonderful, wonderful ambition. It’s going to be a lot of work. But they’re ahead of the game because they’ve got the stuff… he kept the majority of everything very much to himself.”

Rutledge-Borger went on to say that she hopes the Paisley Park compound continues Prince’s philanthropic efforts, in some capacity, by providing a music education center for young people.

When it comes down to it, the eventual fate of Paisley Park falls into the hands of whoever the court decides will inherit Prince’s estate. The administrator simply oversees things, until the determination is made. Whether or not Prince’s Paisley Park becomes a tourist attraction similar to Graceland is, right now, a mystery.

As recently reported by the Inquisitr, Paisley Park took three years and $10 million to build. When the project was completed, in 1985, there was no other compound like it. Prince wanted to live somewhere he had access to everything he needed. He envisioned a place to make movies and music, dance to his heart’s content, work on his choreography, and anything else he planned on doing in the future.

In addition to the possibility of turning Paisley Park into a museum, there is talk about making it a National Historic Landmark. However, it’s not something that could happen overnight. There are several steps to the entire process.

Do you think Prince’s Paisley Park compound will be Minnesota’s next tourist attraction? Feel free to leave your Prince-related comments below.

[Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images]

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