Here’s How the New Neon Museum in Las Vegas Might Look

Posted on: August 25, 2024, 10:42h. 

Last updated on: August 25, 2024, 10:42h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas, Las Vegas Myths.

Last week, the city of Las Vegas tweeted a rendering of how the Neon Museum will look when it moves to its new location and reopens in 2027.  And then it quickly deleted the tweet.

This rendering of the proposed new location of the Neon Museum was shared by the city of Las Vegas. (Image: City of Las Vegas via Vital Vegas)

The rendering had been shared as part of an announcement about upcoming changes to the Arts District downtown. Not only was the tweet deleted, a graphic of it was removed from a city-produced video.

Thanks to Vital Vegas, however, the rendering has been preserved for all to see.

The current plans are to move the museum of classic neon casino signs to the top two floors of a newly constructed parking lot at the corner of Art Way and Boulder Avenue. The 9th floor would feature 47,000 square feet of indoor exhibit space, while the 10th would consist of 60,000 square feet outdoors.

That’s nearly triple the museum’s current exhibit space.

According to the city’s graphic, the top floor would be reserved for neon that still lights up. Easily identifiable in the new rendering are signs from the Stardust and El Cortez, as well as the Gibson Les Paul guitar that fronted the original Hard Rock Café.

These are among the 26 restored neon signs currently in the Neon Museum’s outdoor display area, called the Neon Boneyard. Only signs from the Riviera and Fitzgeralds were received in working condition. The other 24 had to be restored.

Restoring a sign takes more money than most people think. The Hard Rock guitar required $350,000 to restore and install, for example. Like most restorations, the funds for that one were raised from private donations.

The 24-foot-long fuchsia “Debbie” sign from the Debbie Reynolds Hollywood Hotel and Casino gets delivered to the Neon Museum’s backyard, called the Neon Boneyard, in 2004. (The Neon Museum)

Restoring the latest museum acquisition, the Debbie Reynolds Hollywood Hotel sign brought to the Boneyard last month, will represent the first application of the YESCO (Young Electric Sign Company) Conservation Fund, in conjunction with funds provided by the Debbie Reynolds Estate and additional funds raised by Reynolds’ son, Todd Fisher.

The city’s deletion of the rendering tweet reflects concern that the design could change substantially as plans for the new museum, which are still apparently on the drawing board, move forward.

“Please note these are preliminary renderings that are subject to change,” a rep for the city wrote beneath a tweet of the rendering from @LasVegasLocally.

The museum’s relocation is expected to cost $45 million, which the museum hopes will be provided by government funds and philanthropic gifts.