According to The New York Times Sillerman is to turn Graceland into Disneyland.
First off he is set to demolish the Heartbreak Hotel (across from Graceland) and in its place put two 400-room hotels, convention space, an entertainment complex, restaurants, shops, an outdoor amphitheatre and a spa.
He plans to overhaul Graceland from a run-down tourist attraction into a sparkling destination resort.
He is also making changes in Las Vegas with an interactive museum exhibit and Elvis theme show that he hopes will attract millions of visitors a year.
He also envisions a 15,000-square foot exhibit that will travel around the world.
He visited Graceland last month pointing out things he wants to do once the renovations begin. He wants to expand the museum space, which is cramped.
He is irritated by small details, like the jumbled layout of the house tour, which can lead visitors to a dead end.
He wants to make Graceland a "multiday experience," not the two-hour walk-through it is now. He wants people to "stay as long as possible" and of course to spend as much as they can.
He believes that EPE has not used Elvis to his full potential and now that he controls 85 per cent of the company he now has power over Elvis`s name and likeness as well as his house, its grounds and 65 adjoining acres.
The small gift shop may be expanded into a retail complex full of Elvis memorabilia. Sillerman`s entertainment company says it has warehouses groaning with 600,000 pieces of Elvisana, including a barber chair from Graceland, a jukebox from his home in Palm Springs and movie contracts he signed.
Because Sillerman`s company also owns the American Idol franchise, it has a ready supply of musicians who could perform at the planned Amphitheatre.
Mr.Sillerman has also been courting Graceland`s guardians, including Priscilla.
When her daughter, Lisa Marie, struck the deal with CKX, Mrs. Presley gave up any commercial rights to Graceland and the Presley name and received $6.5 million in return.
"It`s very emotional for my daughter and for myself," Mrs. Presley said in a phone interview. "It`s our baby. It`s an emotional ride. We`ve grown with it, and it`s a very personal experience for us."
While in Memphis two weeks ago, Sillerman met with local officials, including the city`s mayor and the mayor of Shelby County to sell them on the plan which has been drawn up by an Orlando firm that also designed the revamped observation deck at the top of Rockefeller Centre.
He was warmly received.
One local business leader said "The effect it`s going to have on everybody`s business in Memphis is tremendous."
If there has been any opponents to the plan, they have been quiet.
Crossing the buzzing traffic on Elvis Presley Boulevard is a dangerous proposition and Sillerman wants to tear down the existing visitors centre and build a new one next to the house, so that visitors don`t have to cross the road.
Weddings would also mean bigger business and so a tiny wedding chapel in the woods would be expanded to a larger "wedding pavilion" to accomodate at least 300 weddings a year.
In Nevada CKX plans to announce this month that it will open an interactive exhibit and Elvis-theme cabaret show on one of two pieces of property on the Las Vegas strip. Sillerman declined to say whether a hotel or casino would be added.
Mrs. Presley suggested that those could follow: "We have talked about having a presence in Las Vegas, hotel-wise, for many, many years," she said.
Some people in Las Vegas may be less than thrilled as EPE has allowed impersonators to use Elvis`s name and likeness free but CKX may not follow suit.
A spokesman for the Las Vegas Tourist Bureau, said that there were at least 50 full-time Elvis impersonators - not counting weekend or part-time Elvises - who worked primarily in wedding chapels and charged about $150 for a 20-minute ceremony.
Sillerman said that the fate of the impersonators was undecided. "If we were going to do a show that was based on Elvis impersonators, then obviously it wouldn`t make sense to have unauthorized Elvis impersonators," he said.
At least one privately owned Elvis business is not surviving.
CKX is acquiring and shutting down Elvis-A-Rama, a popular museum and gift shop off the strip.
Sillerman also sees lots of potential outside the United States.
Each year 600,000 visitors pay from $22 to $55 for a tour of Graceland, and about 30 percent of them are foreigners. That has him thinking of taking the Elvis franchise abroad in the next couple of years, perhaps with an interactive exhibit that would move from city to city every few months.
Clearly, Sillerman has faith in Elvis`s staying power.
Last edited by joanne; 03-06-2006 at 05:38 PM.
I read that article as well, and it's not going to be turned into Disneyland, but plans are in place to extend the range of services available at Graceland. Graceland has stagnated for far too long and the house is falling into a state of disrepair. I welcome his innitiative and look forward to seeing the vast rewards that Elvis' legacy will reap from his investment.
The Sun Never Sets On A Legend...
On the face of it there certainly is a market out there to supply all the things planned and whether you like all the plans or not (Weddings, incursions onto the estate) you have to look at the bigger picture and how this will effect the legacy?
Priscilla and Lisa have basically handed the front door keys to a latter day Tom Parker who only sees $$$$$, that said the Presley franchise has to move on in a market place that is very competitive and unforgiving if you do not move on.
There is a time coming where the off limits areas of Graceland will be access all areas, Priscilla and Lisa will pass away and the objections from the younger generation of Presley's will fade. The fact that future generations of Presley's will have no control over the Image etc (albeit minor) should weigh heavy on the shortsighted family who sold it for 30 pieces of silver.
Graceland as it is now is about as public as it should be, turning it into Disneyland could backfire.
Matt
Last edited by Jumpsuit Junkie; 03-07-2006 at 07:17 AM.
Mr. Sillerman surely knows what he does and this time it wasn't his worst idea. Graceland could be so much more and I am pretty sure that it will be when Mr. Sillerman has finished his work. Why not building some kind of Disneyland and attract new people. It isn't enough to convince someone who already is a fan. You need to draw new people (and even I'm not that new I'd like to be entertained as well) and show them what Elvis was like. And Rober Sillerman isn't the worst choice to do so. Everybody builds some kind of entertainment fantasy resort in Vegas, so it's logical to do something like that with Elvis. If there's a Hotel in Venice - Style, why not a Graceland - Resort? And the area around the original could need some kind of upgrade.
I'm still not sure what think about Sillerman and his adventures. On one hand I say ok I understand you have to move on. But on the other hand dont mess with Graceland and its surrounding grounds (not talking about across the road). The feel it gives you know is so marvellous, it takes me back in time. I hate to see Graceland surrounded by new (large) builidng it would ruin the feel
without a song, a man ain't got a friend,
without a song, the road would never bend,
without a song, so I'll keep singing the song.
http://www.elvisfun.com/fun/htm/avat...s/64/10_64.gifhttp://www.elvisfun.com/fun/htm/avat...s/64/12_64.gifhttp://www.elvisfun.com/fun/htm/avat...s/64/30_64.gifhttp://www.elvisfun.com/fun/htm/avat...s/64/98_64.gif
Lisa-Marie keeps saying that they only sold the licensing and that the house and his things can never be touched and all that but I have a feeling the upstairs of Graceland will be open within the next few years.
Don`t get me wrong a lot of what he has proposed is good but if he is building a museum next to the house I hope he doesn`t mean on the Graceland grounds.
Why did Lisa do this?
Last edited by joanne; 03-07-2006 at 11:00 AM.
The upstairs won't open up, certainly not in Lisa's lifetime, and the fact that the house would HAVE to be altered for fire and safety reasons is another major factor. In the unlikely event that Lisa agrees to such a decision, the national registry would also have to be consulted as Graceland is a protected building.
I welcome the fact that he may change the house back to the way it was 1977, removing Priscilla's makeover and putting the red '*****house scheme' to quote priscilla on, back in.
The Sun Never Sets On A Legend...
Is that what she called it?Originally Posted by 0349054
She is some piece of work and probably said it because Linda had a hand in the redecoration.
At the end of the day Elvis had it looking that way when he died so he liked it and it should of been left that way.
When you look at how it was when he died and how it looked when she had done a changing rooms it is completely different.
The first picture (red) is taken from the hallway and the fire is on the right hand side.
The second picture (blue) is taken from the music room looking towards the hallway but the fire is in the same place can anyone say whats happened there?
Last edited by joanne; 03-08-2006 at 05:31 AM.
In the first picture, it's a cabinet on the right hand side against the wall facing out onto the front yard.
Last edited by 0349054; 03-08-2006 at 09:37 AM.
The Sun Never Sets On A Legend...
Thanks darlin.
I know the rooms were decorated red when Elvis died but........... I think it looks better now, White?Cream is timeless, red looks dated and 70's which I know is the point etc, but it is a replica of previous decoration style so can still be considered within keeping. (boy 70's fashion has a lot to answer lol)
Matt
It might look better but thats not the point.
We are continuously being told that the house has never been touched and its exactly the same when that is just not the case.
Priscilla took control and changed everything back to how it looked when she lived there and as Joanie Esposito said she changed it back to when Elvis and her were happiest and she went and found all the furniture that had previously been in and redid it all.
As you see from the two pictures it is not the same room by any means. She has completely stripped the room.
It would be interesting to know if it is a new carpet she has put down.
http://www.elvisowned.com/Graceland_then_and_now..htm
Last edited by joanne; 03-08-2006 at 11:28 AM.
Frankly, this disturbs me a little. Time will tell whether it is a good or bad thing. It's all part of turning Elvis into this multi-media celebrity - putting his likeness or name on different products, events and places. His home is already a tourist attraction, and it could be better, I guess. I just feel very conflicted about this.
The thing is, how long can this go on? Elvis has been dead for almost thirty years. I am a fan and I want to see his music live on, but I don't care as much about the tacky souvenirs or visiting the Elvis park or whatever. I enjoy going to see his home, because that's a part of him and where he lived. It's about him as a person to me, not just a name-brand. The Elvis convention center? That really has nothing to do with Elvis. On another board, someone mentioned a complex showing Elvis' movies and concerts - that would be cool. I don't think that will happen though. The interest does not seem to be there in Elvis the performer. Times change and tastes change. I think Elvis will always be popular, but to what extent do you go just for the sake of keeping his name out there?
"I can't see my reflection in the water. I can't speak the sounds that show no pain. I can't hear the echo of my footsteps. I can't remember the sound of my own name" - Tomorrow Is A Long Time
I recall in 79 an Elvis wine was marketed by Parker and it made me sick to see Elvis on a wine bottle, it was so not Elvis. It was "make a buck as quick as you can" time.
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