After rumors that it would be sold, Prince’s famous Paisley Park compound is weeks away from opening to the public. On October 6th, the doors to the 65,000-square-foot compound will welcome fans into a new museum honoring the late musician. Ahead of the opening, details of exactly what attendees will be able to see have been revealed in a new report from Rolling Stone.
Prince had long planned to have Paisley Park become a museum after his death, and a source tells RS that he left detailed instructions on how he wanted things to be laid out. “We’re seeing e-mails he sent four months before his death that say how he wanted it,” the source said. “He wasn’t foreshadowing anything. [But] he always wanted his fans to come here. He left us a big road map.”
That map includes access only to the complex’s first floor, meaning tour takers won’t get to see Prince’s private apartment, his infamous basement vault, or the elevator where he was found dead back in April. What they will see, however, are the fabled dove cages in the lobby and the original carpeting that Prince himself walked over. Museum-goers will be taken through over a dozen rooms. each thematically designed to represent a specific era of Prince’s career with costumes, instruments, and never-before-seen concert footage. There will also be a large, wall-mounted timeline tracking Prince’s life through at least the mid-’90s, as per his own specifications.
Some of the memorabilia that will be on display is still only just being uncovered as workers sift through decades of stockpiled material. “Everywhere I turn, it’s ‘Holy crap,'” said the source. Recently discovered artifacts include the outfit Prince wore at the 2007 Super Bowl halftime show and a 40-to-50 page book filled with handwritten lyrics.
Paisly Park’s recording studio will also be open and active, followed soon by the 12,400-square-foot soundstage and nearby nightclub. Both those venues will eventually host concerts, though who will play and when has yet to be revealed.
Graceland Holdings, the group behind the museum at Elvis Presley’s equally famous home, is managing and overseeing the opening of Paisley Park. Prince’s half-brother, Omarr Baker, explained, “We don’t want the place to be known as something that’s a memory or is dead. As long as Paisley Park is kept alive, my bother is kept alive.”
