RSS FeedThe Tussauds Group Is Looking For Some Downtown Space
Thanks to Jason for pointing us to this NBC4 article about Madame Tussauds wax museum.
Here is the complete article text:
- The owner of Madame Tussauds wax museum is in talks with developers to open a museum in downtown D.C.
D.C. Council Member Jack Evans said the Tussauds Group is looking at a location in the former Woodies Building, which is owned by Douglas Development Corporation.
Tussauds is world-famous for its flagship museum in London, featuring wax lookalikes including Elvis Presley, Britney Spears and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton. The group also has wax museums in New York, Las Vegas, Amsterdam and Hong Kong.
Evans and other city officials are gathered with developers this week in Las Vegas for a retailing convention.
The former Woodward and Lothrop Building is located near the National Portrait Gallery, Ford’s Theatre and the International Spy Museum. Officials say the popular wax museum would help anchor downtown as a destination for visitors.
Tussauds is owned by Dubai International Capital.
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Comments
I think Tussauds would find DC a tough town for a museum–one needs a real wow factor/original concept to be a paid museum in a town with the free Smithsonians. The Spy Musuem has it–wax figures?
I agree that it is a tough draw compared to the Smithsonians. I think of the buses of schoolkids who come to DC and visit the museums and major institutions – and spend almost no money in DC. These groups generally don’t go to paying museums like the Spy Museum – which is a boutique museum. Will they go to Tussauds? Personally, I hope they go to the National Portrait Gallery to see real American heroes. I assume Tussauds will spend a lot on advertising to genarate visits, but no locals will go – sort of like the local Hard Rock Cafe. I am torn as to whether they add to the local landscape, unless they have a political or historical theme (look, a wax statue of Tip O’Neill heisting a beer and Lyndon Johnson showing off his scar).
Then again, it might be a fun and quirky place to hold parties.
While I would probably never go to Tussauds, I do think it would be a fun addition to downtown. I think it will diversify the Washington tourism experience and like Hard Rock and ESPN Zone, it offers some mindless distraction after a week of visiting monuments and the Smithsonian museums. It also helps solidify the image that downtown is where people want to be. Now, if we could only convince Trader Joe’s that this is where they want to be. Any new developements?
Busloads of kids go to the Spy Museum every day. I think Tussauds would be a tawdry-but-quirky addition to the neighborhood, and it would definitely get good tourist business.
Haven’t we already had a Wax Museum in DC? Isn’t there a site that’s currently being redeveloped somewhere downtown known as the old “wax museum”? Though Tussauds would add diversity to the mix of tourist offerings, it seems that it doesn’t fit in at all with D.C.’s schtick like the Spy Museum. I mean wax versions of celebrities seem a little out of place. . .
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I walked by the old Woodies building this morning and there was a huge sign in the window (on the G Street side) saying West Elm (the furniture store) would be opening there in 2007.