Hitsville is a hit Jackson coverage makes museum a tourist mecca By Susan Whitall The Detroit News Michael Jackson's death has put the spotlight on a place Detroiters know so well they take it for granted: Hitsville, the Motown Historical Museum on West Grand Boulevard in Detroit. Normally the museum draws a steady stream of visitors in the summer, mostly out-of-town fans, but the tsunami of emotion unleashed by Jackson's death on June 25 has drawn hundreds to the sidewalk and front lawn of Hitsville night after night. Many were from out of town, but a good number were locals. The museum reacted to Jackson's death and the grief of fans by putting photos of the singer in the front window . An official book of condolence was placed on the front porch for visitors to sign. Anyone who wants to sign the book needs to get to the museum by Friday, when it will be packed up and sent to the Jackson family in California. Motown Historical Museum CEO Audley Smith says the shrine on the front lawn consisting of photos, wreaths, posters and stuffed animals will be respectfully gathered up this weekend and sent to a 'much sweeter resting place,' a crypt at Woodlawn Cemetery on Woodward Avenue in Detroit, donated by the cemetery. Images of the museum's familiar blue-and-white 'Hitsville' sign and the tribute-bedecked front lawn were all over network and cable TV news shows this past week as one of the iconic places associated with Jackson, along with his hometown of Gary, Ind.; the Apollo Theater in New York (where he and his brothers won amateur night); and his Neverland estate near Santa Barbara, Calif. It was at Motown's Woodward Avenue offices that Jackson and his brothers first auditioned for Berry Gordy Jr., and where they signed their contract. The Jackson 5 also did some recording at Hitsville's famed Studio A, although the bulk of their recording was in Los Angeles. 'Visitorship to the museum certainly went up during the past week, the fact that Michael was part of the Motown family had an effect,' Smith said Wednesday, although he couldn't give exact numbers of visitors. 'It gets busy when you're dealing with those kind of numbers outside the museum, unlicensed vendors and folks who want to set up shop on your lawn,' he said. Lina Stephens, chief curator of the museum, is preparing a special Michael Jackson exhibit to stoke the hunger for anything related to the singer. 'We're not going to throw something together to exploit the moment; we feel it deserves a well thought-out exhibit, which we hope to have launched by the time of the annual (Motown Museum) gala on Nov. 21,' Smith said. The much-publicized white sequined glove and black fedora hat, which were on display before Jackson's death but whisked away in the hours after his death to a safer location, will be back at the museum by the end of the month, according to Smith. The museum also has a jacket and stage uniform that Jackson donated to the museum in 1988. 'Lina (Stephens) is working with a firm to have the items put in a much more secure case,' he said. swhitalldetnews.com (313) 222-2156 Latest news on Michael Jackson Where is the King of Pop? Jackson's flower-covered casket was at the Forest Lawn mortuary in Los Angeles Tuesday morning for a private family ceremony, and later at the Staples Center for his public funeral, then it was taken to an undisclosed location afterward as family members gathered at a hotel for lunch. Family members are reportedly still discussing where Jackson's final resting place should be, with Jermaine and several brothers wanting it to be his expansive former home, Neverland, which would be turned into a theme park much like Elvis Presley's Graceland, while his mother Katherine and others are skeptical of that plan. Police were investigating numerous doctors said to have prescribed narcotics to Jackson. Dr. Arnold Klein, Jackson's dermatologist, claimed Wednesday on ABC's 'Good Morning America' that he hadn't given the singer any dangerous drugs, and in fact warned Jackson about Dilaudid and other drugs. Unverified reports identified Klein as the father of Jackson's two older children, Prince Michael, 12, and Paris Michael, 11, but Klein responded in an oddly worded statement on 'Good Morning America' : 'To the best of my knowledge, I am not the father of these children.' If that seemed less than clear, he added: 'I can't answer it in any other way. I don't want to feed any of this insanity that is going around.' The doctor saw Jackson in his office just three days before his death, and insists he was healthy and not too thin, even dancing a bit for patients.More Michael: Browse photo galleries and see video at detnews.com/music.Jackson coverage makes Hitsville a tourist mecca 