When it was announced back in August that Prince's Paisley Park would open for public tours this month, I immediately booked a flight to Minnesota, bought a tour ticket (I even paid for the upgrade to try a few of Prince's favorite foods while there) and got ready to experience a piece of pop culture history.
That was, until this morning, when I received an email stating, "the Chanhassen, Minnesota City Council voted late yesterday to table the measure which would have permitted Paisley Park to open as a museum starting this Thursday, October 6."
By some random stroke of luck, I then received an update saying Paisley Park had been granted "a temporary permit to open the museum for tours on Thursday, October 6, Saturday October 8, and Friday, October 14."
A local news story further explained that "Paisley Park tours will be given to as many guests as possible who have tickets for Oct. 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 15 on those three dates previously listed." Luckily for me, this includes my tour date, but what about everyone else who booked a flight, reserved a hotel room or took time off from work to experience Paisley Park and wasn't so fortunate as to be visiting on one of these days? For now, they're out of luck.
Paisley Park has announced refunds will be given to those folks, but it's still unclear how or when this will occur. Fans will also have the option to hold onto their tickets and use them at a later date, assuming rezoning is approved at some point in the future.
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According to the city of Chanhassen, Paisley Park's current application for rezoning, a measure necessary to operate as a museum, was tabled due to "public safety and traffic concerns" and will be brought up for another vote "on or before Dec. 20." So, it could be the end of the year before any further decisions are made about the site.
It's also being reported that Paisley Park is currently working with the Mall of America to set up a permanent exhibit of Prince's belongings and items from his wardrobe. Though the exhibition could open as early as next week, it doesn't seem like much of a consolation prize for fans who already had plans to visit Paisley Park from around the world.
KARE 11 spoke to Orla Kavanagh, a fan who spent more than $3,000 to travel to Minneapolis from Dublin on Oct. 6, just to be one of the first to tour Prince's compound. When the announcement was made that Paisley Park won't open as a museum any time soon she told the NBC news affiliate she was "heartbroken."
It looks like she too will be one of the lucky few who will still get a tour, but one has to wonder how many Orlas are out there with tickets for tours after Oct. 16, and nonrefundable flights to Minnesota. Ticketing has already been closed on the official Paisley Park website with a simple message explaining the city council's decision and a promise to "provide more updates soon."
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