MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - Parrotheads, rejoice. Your gathering spot is almost finished.
The Mobile City Council on Tuesday approved a $32,623 purchase of a pedestal for a Jimmy Buffett statue. The last-minute addition to the council agenda marks one of the final pieces of a vision to reimagine the National Maritime Museum of the Gulf on the city’s waterfront.
“Almost two years in the making, and we’re getting there,” said Karen Poth, executive director of the museum. “You can see there’s stuff going up all over the place.”
Set to open the weekend of Sept. 12-13, “Jimmy Buffett: Son of a Son of a Sailor Experience” will have timed entry slots. Tickets already are on sale on the museum’s website. It is included in the $19 admission price.
FOX10 News got an exclusive sneak peek of the 6,000-square-foot “Jimmy Buffett: Son of a Son of a Sailor Experience.”
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It’s still very much a work in progress, with workers sawing and hammering on Tuesday. Poth said the first delivery truck arrived a couple of weeks ago.
Dedicated to the legendary singer-songwriter, it will be the biggest Jimmy Buffett exhibit in the world. Museum leaders hope it becomes the linchpin in a revamped attraction that struggled with low attendance for most of its 11 years.
“This is kind of a new beginning for the whole waterfront,” Poth said. “So we’re very excited about what this is gonna do for Mobile. But more than that, it’s been an absolute honor to be able to bring Jimmy Buffett here to his home.”
About half of the exhibit will be a concert experience. It is not much to look at now, but Poth said it will be one of the highlights of the exhibit. Visitors will first be backstage at a concert and then step into a show. She said the museum worked with Buffett’s longtime videographer and will feature never-before-seen footage.
“We have a lot of props from our road cases and things from Jimmy’s tours and stage props from all of his tours,” she said. “So people will get to see all those.”
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Gold records will adorn the walls of another room. It also will include several of Buffett’s guitars, including the one he used to record his famous song, “Son of a Son of a Sailor.”
The exhibit highlights Buffett’s maritime roots. Both of his parents worked for the Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Co., and his grandfather was a boat captain.
A large portion of the exhibit is dedicated to Buffett’s fanbase, the so-called Parrotheads. Visitors will be able to enter what the museum calls the “Parrothead confessional,” a small room designed to look like the back door of his home in Key West. Poth said visitors will be able to use an interactive kiosk to record their own Jimmy Buffett memories.
The base that the council approved Tuesday will hold a 7½-foot statue of Jimmy Buffett that will face the waterfront behind the museum. The grand opening coincides with a Mac McAnally concert at the Saenger Theatre on Sept. 11. McAnally was a songwriter and producer for Buffett.
The Buffett exhibit will be joined by another exhibit in June, “Delta Mosaic: A Confluence of Life,” which will feature an immersive walkthrough of the Delta. But it is the Buffett exhibit that Poth believes will be a lasting tourism draw that gives people a reason to visit multiple times and serves as a destination for out-of-towners.
“Social media is already filled with folks who are planning their trips and figuring out how to come here,” she said. “And we honestly think we finally have something that will keep people from just getting on the bridge or in the tunnel and headed to the beach. I think they’re gonna stop in Mobile for a while.”
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