RSS FeedMadame Tussauds Bought Out – Wax Museum Still On Track
We cringe every time we hear that a just-about-to-open storefront gets bought out by another entity (i.e. Balducci’s/Bear Stearns drama).
But, this story has a happy beginning. The WaPo reports:
- Private-equity giant Blackstone Group said yesterday that it had created the world’s second-largest theme park group, behind Walt Disney Co., with its $1.9 billion buyout of Madame Tussauds waxworks museums.
[…]
Merlin executives said they planned to focus on expanding the wax museum company, which has 14 million visitors a year and operates six museums around the world, as well as other theme parks, hotels and a castle in Europe.
Background: Madame Tussauds will be opening later this year in the former Woodward & Lothrop building on F Street Northwest. (between 10th and 11th St)
Thanks to Jeff for pointing us to this info!
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Comments
Oh yes, we all know that downtown DC should remain a concrete office park with no glitz, glitter, or neon a.k.a. fun. There are plenty of people who like the neon (myself included) and the added vibrance and entertainment that Penn Quarter provides. I welcome Madame Tussauds to DC. It is something different, and only 6 other cities in the world have one of these. I welcome anything to DC that breaks the staid, conservative Washington stranglehold.
I have heard of that too, rr!
I wouldn’t call a wax museum “Disneylandification” though. If anything, I’d call the America’s Most Wanted museum that name. But, it’s the downtown area of a major city – that’s where museums are going to thrive.
Could someone post more info about the strip clubs? I’m sick of the poor talent at the places in NW DC (except Camelot)…
For those former upper NW residents who miss the big Georgetown ‘social’ safeway, the Express wrote up today that the Circulator will be extending its route to reach the georgetown safeway.
http://www.readexpress.com/read_freeride/2007/03/circulators_gtown_route_to_reach_social.php
I think it’s more akin to the Times-Square-ificiation of our neighborhood. The problem is that cheesy, tourist-infested museums bring the wrong sort of entertainment to the neighborhood, and can (as with Times Square) drive out everyone except those tourists. In the case of Times Square, and putting aside the lingering porn shops, it’s basically just soulless office buildings and tourist traps (like oversized theaters and “museums” like Tussauds). I would hate to see that happen here. So while I despise the corporate feel of the area and agree with anon 2:39 that we need “vibrance and entertainment,” I think we’re better off with new restaurants, bars, theaters, and shops.
(Stated somewhat differently, you might say that the recent trend in the area has been to exchange one form of classlessness for another.)
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thank God the Disneylandification will stop going north at K St. NW.