Late pop icon Prince’s Paisley Park studio compound in Minnesota will become open to the public on Friday, after gaining final approval as a museum, a close source has revealed.
The “Purple Rain” star’s complex was scheduled to open earlier this month, but that was delayed after city officials asked the site’s operator to better plan for an influx of visitors.
Officials granted final approval Monday night, and Paisley Park’s operator said tour tickets will be available for purchase online through December 2016, with 2017 tour dates expected to go on sale in mid-November.
The 55,000-square-foot (5,100-square-meter) studio complex is located in the Minneapolis suburb of Chanhassen. It has a near-mythical status among fans, who had only limited access to parts of it during the pop legend’s life.
A lucky few hundred were said to have toured it.
As a compromise for fans who had already purchased tour tickets for the complex’s original unveiling in early October, officials allowed a limited number of tours over three days earlier this month.
Fans who got inside saw memorabilia including concert wardrobe, awards, musical instruments, artwork, music and video recordings, and motorcycles. Rooms were themed according to Prince’s albums, like Graffiti Bridge or Purple Rain.
Prince’s working studio was left untouched since the singer’s death on April 21 from an accidental overdose of painkillers, at the age of 57.
