B.B. King Museum to Open in Indianola



B.B. King Museum Project Leader Leslee Linn gives a tour April 4 of the old cotton gin at the end of Sunflower Avenue, which is being renovated as a main gallery space.

When blues legend and Indianola native B.B. King first drove up to the proposed site for his museum, he said: "You know I used to work in this gin."

They didn't know. But the architecture departments at Auburn and Mississippi State universities apparently had done a good job of picking the location.

Leslee Linn, project leader of the new B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpetive Center in Indianola is excited about its grand opening Sept. 13. She calls projections that the facility will receive only 45,000 visitors its first year "pessimistic."

The museum tells not only the story of the life of B.B. King but also the story of the Delta, Linn said. The museum features a movie theater for a short film on the "King of the Blues," a series of exhibits following King's life from early childhood as an orphan to his years spent in Memphis to his life on the road, an interactive center for learning to play the guitar and a gift shop. Linn said the large outdoor green space will make the facility ideal for parties.

Also within walking distance of the museum are three blues clubs, including Club Ebony. King recently purchased Club Ebony and takes over as owner on Monday.

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