Las Vegas Neon Museum To Triple In Size, Add Mirage Casino ItemsNew Downtown Arts District Location To Open In 2027 |
|
The Mirage Casino may now be closed, but some of the property’s best-known features will live on at the Neon Museum, which also recently announced a relocation to downtown Las Vegas.
Hard Rock International is redeveloping the property and donating several historical items to the venue. The Neon Museum has been in operation since 1996 and preserves some of the city’s iconic signage and other artifacts as casinos are closed or make significant changes.
“Hard Rock is very pleased to contribute The Mirage artifacts to The Neon Museum,” Mirage President Joe Lupo said. “This iconic property that transformed the Las Vegas Strip can be remembered forever and we appreciate them preserving one of our city’s greatest treasures.”
What Is Being Saved?
The Mirage is set to reopen in July 2027 after being redeveloped as a Hard Rock property. The casino was at the forefront of the Vegas mega resort trend after opening in 1989. The brainchild of casino impresario Steve Wynn, the casino was the most expensive resort ever built at the time at a price tag of $630 million.
Some of the property’s attractions included dolphin and tiger habitats, an indoor tropical forest, a 20,000-gallon aquarium of exotic fish, and an artificial volcano that erupted nightly along the Strip for visitors passing by.
The casino was also home to the famed Siegfried & Roy magic show for 14 years. The Mirage is donating a 17-foot-tall sculpture of the magic duo with a giant white tiger.
The property is also donating the 30-foot-tall Mirage hotel entrance arch sign and a 27-foot-long neon sign that was located in the casino’s volcano lagoon.
“In July of 2023, The Neon Museum first met with Hard Rock leadership to begin the preservation conversation. Over the course of a year, we worked together to identify the most iconic and historically significant pieces,” museum executive director Aaron Berger said. “Future generations will be able to learn about ‘the oasis in the desert’ and how it changed hospitality design in Las Vegas and the world.”
Museum officials made the announcement that the collection would be moving at a Las Vegas City Council meeting recently. The venue will see its size triple by relocating to the downtown Arts District, allowing for more signs to be displayed. The museum currently only displays about 30% of its items and the bigger venue is expected to open in 2027.
You can find more information at The Neon Museum websit.
*Photos by The Neon Museum
Copyright © 2001-2024
CardPlayer.com. All rights reserved.
