Michael Jackson’s funeral will not take place at his former estate, Neverland Ranch, nor will he be buried there. The latest news has a public funeral taking place on Tuesday, most likely at the Staples Center in LA. Jackson’s body will possibly be interred at Forest Lawn cemetery in the Hollywood Hills. The owners of Neverland Ranch, the real estate investment firm Colony Capital, were unable to get an exemption fast enough to allow a burial on site.
While several outlets report the Staples Center as a possible venue, Radar Online claims to have confirmed that the funeral will take place there on Tuesday. The LA Times gives a little more information, including the fact that tickets to the memorial might be sold in order to defer the cost of security:
The discussions over Michael Jackson’s public memorial have now focused on a possible Tuesday service, though sources stress that the Jackson family has not made a final decision.
Five sources, who are familiar with the planning process but spoke on the condition that they not be named, said authorities are drawing up plans for a massive law enforcement deployment Tuesday morning.
But Ken Sunshine, a Jackson family spokesman, said in an e-mail that he could not comment.
The site of the memorial service has been the subject of nearly a week of speculation, and possible sites have included the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and Neverland Ranch.
The financing for the memorial remains unclear. Security and crowd control for the event are likely to be costly. The Lakers championship victory parade and celebration at the Coliseum cost $2 million, about half of which covered L.A. police and public works costs. There was an outcry when the city initially said it would cover some of those costs — and private donors eventually stepped forward, among them AEG, which owns Staples. AEG was also planning Jackson’s comeback tour at its O2 Arena in London.
It’s also unclear how much tickets to the memorial would cost.
The Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus has long been scheduled to appear at Staples next Wednesday through Sunday, July 12. Traditionally, the Parade of the Elephants — in which the circus’ elephants walk, trunk to tail, through downtown to Staples — is held as circus performers arrive in town.
This year, that parade was scheduled for Tuesday morning — followed by a visit by local elementary school children who were to aid in the animals’ feeding. One source familiar with the planning process said that the parade would continue but that the schoolchildren would have to wait.
[From The LA Times]
It’s fitting that the memorial will be held at the place Michael had his last rehearsal. We’ve heard from several sources, including his trainer Lou Ferrigno and the photographer who captured some of his last rehearsals, that Jackson seemed fit, happy and ready to perform. This is in stark contrast to the media’s perhaps more accurate portrait of a troubled, underweight man with chronic health problems and a dangerous addiction which led to his death. His fans will remember him in all his glory, and imaging the heights to which he could have soared if the drugs hadn’t taken his life.
People should be able to pay their respects to Michael at his final resting place. Rumor has it that he will be buried at Forest Lawn cemetery in the Hollywood Hills, which is open to the public. (There’s another Forest Lawn cemetery in Glendale which is private.) Other late greats buried at Forest Lawn in the Hollywood Hills include John Ritter, Bette Davis, Gene Autry and Ozzie and Harriett Nelson. I would have preferred to see a memorial for Michael at Hollywood Forever on Santa Monica Boulevard. It’s set up like a large park and includes statue-like memorials, kiosks with videos and photos searchable by name, and an online guestbook for people to leave condolences. Any cemetery will all those services might be overwhelmed with visitors and website hits for Michael, though, and it’s probably for the best that he be interred in a more traditional cemetery.