Country music legend Merle Haggard is to get his own museum, bar and restaurant in Nashville, Tennessee.
Announced by the Icon Entertainment Group (IEG), the museum in Downtown Nashville will open next door to the group’s two existing properties, which honour fellow country music singers Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline.
The museum will feature instruments, clothing, memorabilia, awards and other artefacts that belonged to Haggard, who died last year on his 79th birthday. Below the museum will be the southern-themed Merle's Meat + 3 Saloon – a bar and restaurant offering dishes made famous in the region.
The 15,447sq ft (1,435sq m) building, which previously housed Mr Hat’s Boot Co, was purchased by IEG chief executive Bill Miller in October last year for a sum of US$7m (€6m, £5.3m). At the time, Miller said the purchase wouldn’t be his “last acquisition in Downtown Nashville”; the developer has a history of creating museum and entertainment projects branded after country music icons.
"When the family of a legend hands you a legacy and entrusts you with that, it's something we don't take lightly," said Miller.
Theresa Haggard, Merle’s widow, added: "I think this venture will be a wonderful way to preserve Merle’s legacy and just keep his music going on and on.”
The Merle Haggard museum is slated to open in Q3 2018.
