Paisley Park — Prince’s 65,000 square-foot Minneapolis recording studio and residence until his death in April of this year — has finally officially been okayed to become a permanent (and apparently very pricey) museum, reports Billboard. Previously, it wasn’t known whether the Chanhassen City Council would only allow it to operate as such on a more than temporary basis, but now tours of the iconic space can, as approved by the city, be held indefinitely for the public. (The tours began earlier in the month, though they were approved to do so provisionally while the council researched traffic issues and pedestrian safety.)
The museum — as it can now legitimately be called — has kept much of the space as it was when Prince occupied it, and has turned the studio in part into a display room for notes Prince was writing for the jazz album he was working on before he died, as well as for other memorabilia, such as costumes, awards, instruments, and a variety of recordings. According to the museum’s website:
Fans will have the unprecedented opportunity to experience first-hand what it was like for Prince to create, produce and perform inside this private sanctuary and remarkable production complex.
Prince’s remains are also on display in an urn shaped like a much smaller Paisley Park.
The Council voted 5-0 to make Paisley Park a permanent museum, and almost immediately, management made tickets available for tours through December of this year, and tickets for tours in 2017 will seemingly be coming in November. It’s projected that 600,000 people per year will be coming to visit the museum, and apparently each of them will be paying… $38.50 for early purchase general admission tickets, $50.00 for regular general admission tickets, or $100.00 for VIP tours.