So the logo has the words "The
Mob Museum" with the word "mob" almost completely blacked out. The
formal name is surrounded by thick black lines, and the museum's Web
site catchphrase is, "The only museum where you can say you didn't see
anything."
On Wednesday, City Council members also received T-shirts that said,
"There is no such thing as a Mob Museum nor have I ever been there."
A Pittsburgh firm called Wall-to-Wall Studios came up with the plan.
Company founder James Nesbitt said it is "a good balance between law
enforcement and organized crime, and injects a sense of wit."
"Only in Las Vegas do you have the gumption to mark out the main name of the museum," Nesbitt said.
The museum will be in the historic post office building on Stewart
Avenue next to City Hall. The building was also Las Vegas' first
federal courthouse and the site of a hearing on organized crime in 1950
held by U.S. Sen. C. Estes Kefauver of Tennessee.
Planned exhibits include Las Vegas' development during the days of
Prohibition and bootlegging, the influx of organized crime and how
organized crime operations across the country were connected.
The FBI has promised to lend archived evidence and artifacts for the
displays, and the search is on for other memorabilia, said Bob Stoldal,
who's working with 300 Stewart Avenue Corp., the nonprofit that will
operate the museum for the city.
"Organized crime was not known for keeping good records, but I'm sure there's still something out there," he said.
The $50 million project has long been championed by Mayor Oscar
Goodman, who was an attorney for many organized crime figures in his
pre-mayoral career and even played himself in the mob epic "Casino."
Stoldal revealed that Goodman has a collection of courtroom drawings
from his trials, and the mayor confirmed that he has other material
that will be part of the museum's exhibits.
"I can promise you there will be some personal memorabilia in the
museum," he said. "I didn't realize how much I really had. It's stacked
up in a warehouse."
His past led to some cracks at the mayor's expense.
When mob memorabilia came up, Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian said, "Does that mean the mayor's going to clean out his garage?"
Councilman Larry Brown chimed in: "Why don't you just do an illegal search and seizure?"
For his part, Goodman played the good lawyer and maintained deniability.
"For 35 years, I was representing 'reputed' people," said Goodman,
pretending to be grouchy. "There is no such thing as 'the mob.' "
The museum is being paid for with $7 million in local, state and
federal grants, $8 million in city funds and $35 million in bonds from
the city's Redevelopment Agency. The goal is to time the museum's
opening with the reopening of the Lady Luck next door.
