| Archive for The Ranch The Un-Official British Country Music Forum |
| bernard |
it would be funny if it were not so tragichttp://www.winchesterstar.com/sho...file=Leavinon%20mind_article.htmlWinchester — The “Available for Lease” sign on the proposed site of the Patsy Cline Museum doesn’t mean the museum won’t become a reality. Visitors to the Loudoun Street Mall in Winchester walk past 134 N. Loudoun St. Wednesday. The building, which was supposed to house a Patsy Cline museum, is available for subleasing. (Photo by Ginger Perry) But 134 N. Loudoun St. won’t be the location for the facility planned by the Celebrating Patsy Cline organization to honor the legendary singer who was born and raised in Winchester. The organization signed a five-year lease three years ago, with an option for a 25-year lease, with Hables Real Estate, which owns the three-floor 21,000-square-foot property. “We would like for them to stay downtown, but they need to do what is best for them,” said Diane Walter, manager of the real estate company that owns 250 units between Middletown and Winchester. “We hope it works out for them.” CPC president Judy Sue Huyett-Kempf said the organization is disappointed to lose the prospect, temporarily, for a larger downtown museum for a music icon such as Cline. But after conducting a study on donor possibilities, the group found it was best to own the building when fundraising, Huyett-Kempf said. “We made what we thought was a fair offer to purchase the building, taking into account the economy and improvements needed,” she added, but Hables did not accept it. Walter would not comment on the offer to purchase the building, appraised at about a half-million dollars. “Because of the economic downturn and an inability to secure long-term lease/ownership, CPC concluded that necessary funds to build at museum at 134 N. Loudoun St. could not be realized,” Huyett-Kempf said. Since the rent is more than $2,000 per month, the organization decided to sublet the rest of the five-year lease. Dick Helm of Sperry Van Ness in Winchester, specializing in commercial real estate, is handling the listing and has several prospects. In one week, he has shown it three times. “Everybody walks in, looks around, and says ‘wow,’” regarding the size of the building. Helm said it is time to make the museum a reality. “It is hard to get donations if you don’t own the building.” While efforts to open the museum are on hold, CPC is concentrating its energy on the house at 608 S. Kent St. where Cline lived with her family intermittently from 1948, Huyett-Kempf said. The singer died at the height of her career in a plane crash near Camden, Tenn., March 5, 1963. The Winchester City Council will consider this month an amendment to its Zoning Ordinance that would allow museums in the district where the house stands. The ordinance change has received support from the Planning Commission, which publicly sponsored it. If the council adopts the change, CPC must still apply for a special-use permit before opening the house to the public. “What better way to honor Patsy than to use her home, where her presence is still strong,” said Huyett-Kempf. The house, listed on the Landmarks Register by the Historic Resources Board of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources and on the National Register of Historic Places, will be decorated as it was when Cline lived there with her mother Hilda Hensley, Huyett-Kempf said. Cline’s husband Charlie Dick and daughter Julie Fudge of Nashville, Tenn., are working closely with CPC, providing suggestions for restoring the house to its appearance when the family lived there, Huyett-Kempf added. CPC still plans to have a larger museum in Winchester, but has no designated site. The house museum will interpret the period of Cline’s life when she lived there with her family, while the larger Patsy Cline Museum will tell her life story, Huyett-Kempf said. CPC, a volunteer organization with a nine-member Board of Directors, received $110,000 in 2005 from the city government to keep a museum within the city limits for 25 years. That money was used for rent on the building at 134 N. Loudoun and other expenses, Huyett-Kempf said. “No one receives a salary in this all-volunteer group.” Ron Hottle has been a board member for 10 years, and plans to stay involved until the museum is established. “The house museum is what we are looking at right now,” he said. “We have lots of hurdles, but we are getting there.” Items belonging to Patsy Cline and purchased by CPC and Legacy Inc., the business arm of Cline’s family, will be used in the house as well as in the proposed museum, Huyett-Kempf said. CPC is not abandoning the idea of opening a larger facility, using the plans for exhibits designed by Ralph Appelbaum Associates of New York. “We haven’t given up hope for a larger museum,” Huyett-Kempf said. “When the economy changes, we will try to find a property to purchase within the city limits. And the punch line is The project is just on hold. All we need is a building.” ...www.celebratingpatsycline.org Winchester Star staff writer Eric Beidel contributed some information for this report. |
| Judy |
 it is a joke though
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