For the cousin of Jennifer Love Hewitt......

RALPH APPELBAUM

New York City-based RAA is the largest interpretive museum design firm in the world, according to the firm’s Web site.

Included in its portfolio are the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Newseum, the William J. Clinton Presidential Center, and the American Folk Art Museum.

“Having an exhibit designer of this caliber is a real coup for Celebrating Patsy Cline and the community,” said Jennifer Esler, executive director of the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley in Winchester. The MSV was designed by internationally renowned architect Michael Graves.

“[Appelbaum] has an incredible reputation in the museum field,” Esler said. “I, for one, can’t wait to see what they create for the Patsy Cline Museum.”

The 7,000-square-foot museum honoring the Country Music Hall of Fame legend and Winchester native is slated to open in September at 134 N. Loudoun St., according to Judy Sue Huyett Kempf, president of the nonprofit Celebrating Patsy Cline Inc.

“This is an important milestone in the development of the Patsy Cline Museum,” Huyett Kempf said. “Her museum deserves world-class exhibits, and Ralph Appelbaum is the ideal choice.”

Celebrating Patsy Cline has been working for more than a decade to establish a museum in Cline’s honor.

Berryville-based Carter + Burton Architecture, the museum’s executive architect, was instrumental in attracting Ralph Appelbaum Associates to the museum team, a news release stated.

Jim Burton, a principal in the firm and a longtime board member of Celebrating Patsy Cline, said he called RAA “six or eight times” before the firm agreed to take on the project.

“They’re the best in the world at what they do,” he said. “I figured it was worth a shot to try to get them.

“Our project is a lot smaller than anything they’ve ever done,” Burton noted, “but they were willing to do it because it was Patsy Cline.”

Chip Jeffries, a founder of RAA, came to Winchester last week to meet with Celebrating Patsy Cline board members and city officials.

“The Patsy Cline Museum is about to become one of our community’s most important endeavors, both in terms of furthering downtown’s revitalization and bringing an exciting new cultural attraction to the community,” Winchester Mayor Elizabeth Minor said. “The scope of this project, including the hiring of a world-renowned museum design firm, will bring international attention to Winchester’s most notable contemporary cultural icon.”

On Friday evening, the public is invited to attend a “hard hat” tour of the future museum site at 134 N. Loudoun. The events start at 6 p.m. with a presentation by representatives from RAA and Carter + Burton Architecture.

Immediately following the presentation will be a showing of the 55-minute documentary “Sweet Dreams Still,” described as the “essential video” of Patsy Cline’s filmed performances.

The event is free of charge.

On Saturday, the building will be open for tours at noon, followed by a Patsy Cline karaoke contest from 1 to 3 p.m. JD Dawson & Original Country Band will perform from 4 to 5 p.m.

Tours also will be offered from noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Charlie Dick, the late singing star’s husband, plans to attend the weekend’s events.

Contacted on Monday night at his home in Nashville, Tenn., Dick said he looks forward to seeing what RAA creates for the Patsy Cline Museum.

“I’ve been to the Country Music Hall of Fame many times, and they did a hell of a job,” Dick said. “It’s a beautiful place. Very impressive. If you don’t know a lot about country music, you can learn a lot about it there.”

This weekend marks the 43rd anniversary of Patsy Cline’s death. She died on March 5, 1963, in a plane crash in Camden, Tenn. She was 30 years old.

Her hits include “Crazy,” Sweet Dreams,”“and “Walkin’ After Midnight.”

Image & Story: © 2006 The Winchester Star. All Rights Reserved.