(LAS VEGAS, NV) — Progress on the Las Vegas Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement – aka “The Mob Museum” – is advancing with the addition of five world-class sub-contractors to create more than 30 films, exhibits and interactive experiences throughout the three-story, 41,000-square-foot Museum scheduled to open December 2011.
According to Dr. Dennis Barrie, the Museum’s creative director whose previous credits include the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, this team represents the country’s most innovative and creative digital film-makers and exhibit fabricators. “This is an all-star team in the world of digital media, experience designers and exhibit fabricators,” said Barrie. “Their resumes include the best and most engaging attractions and museums in the world today. We are thrilled to have them on the Mob Museum team.”
They include:
- Pacific Studios of Seattle, Washington has fabricated exhibits for scores of world-class museums and attractions including the Seattle Aquarium, Museum of Flight and Yellowstone National Park Canyon Visitor Center.
- Snibbe Interactive, a social immersive media firm headquartered in San Francisco, California whose signature projects include unique interactive exhibits for the California Academy of Sciences, The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia and The Exploratorium in San Francisco.
- Northern Light Productions, a film production company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts that was recently chosen to produce a film for the September 11 Memorial. The company has produced hundreds of award-winning documentaries on issues of global concern, including wars, social issues and other pertinent topics of world-wide interest.
- AVI-SPL, a digital media company with offices in Las Vegas whose signature projects include the Dubai Mall, the Sound Field for Oriole Park at Camden Yards and audio visual for Yankee Stadium.
- Boston Productions, Inc., an interactive, multi-media and AV integration design firm whose signature projects includes The National Museum of the Pacific War; Black Holes, Space Warps and Time Twists, a film for Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics; The Hershey Story; and The College Basketball Experience in Kansas City, MO.
The exhibits, designed by Gallagher & Associates, a renowned design firm that creates visitor experiences and graphic packages for public and private museums throughout the country, are highly experiential and encourage interaction with visitors, according to Dr. Dennis Barrie, the Museum’s creative director. Exhibit subject matter covers a broad range of mob-related topics from the perspective of both mobsters and law enforcement.
The Mob Museum is under construction inside an historic former federal courthouse and post office at 300 Stewart Avenue in downtown Las Vegas. The Mob Museum preserves a fascinating chapter of Las Vegas and American history and is located in an historic building that is home to the very courtroom, where, in 1950, the Kefauver Hearings on Organized Crime were held to expose and control organized crime.
The Mob Museum is expected to cost approximately $42 million to construct and is being funded through local, state and federal grants, in addition to matching grants and Redevelopment Agency funding sources that can only be spent in the city’s redevelopment area. To date, the Mob Museum has received more than $8.3 million in grants, including nearly $1.9 in Economic Development Initiative grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; more than $500,000 from Save America’s Treasures from the National Trust for Historic Preservation; more than $5.6 million in Centennial Committee Awards from the Commission for the Las Vegas Centennial; more than $87,000 from the State Historic Preservation Office; a $250,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services; and $200,000 from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
About The Mob Museum
The Las Vegas Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement – The Mob Museum – is a world-class museum dedicated to the history of organized crime and law enforcement now under development in downtown Las Vegas. Located at 300 Stewart Avenue, inside an historic and former post office and federal court house, the museum is an important component of the city’s downtown redevelopment now underway. The 41,000-square-foot Mob Museum includes approximately 16,800 square feet of exhibition space on three floors in addition to a specialty retail store, special event areas, educational areas and office space. The Mob Museum is expected to cost approximately $42 million to construct and is being funded through local, state and federal grants, in addition to matching grants and Redevelopment Agency funding sources that can only be spent in the city’s redevelopment area. The city of Las Vegas owns the building and the land on which it sits. Ellen Knowlton, former FBI Special Agent in Charge, Las Vegas Division, and a 24-year FBI veteran, is president of 300 Stewart Avenue Corporation, a non-profit board formed to oversee the Museum’s development and operations.
RELATED NEWS ITEMS
- Effort to create Dick Tracy museum in Naperville
- Mob Experience at Tropicana immerses visitors in stories and lore of organized crime (Las Vegas)
- Five top museum projects showcased at TEA Summit in Los Angeles March 11
- Vision for new National Museum of the American People in Washington DC
- Titanic: The Exhibition engaged at Tivoli Gardens, Denmark
- New Greater Cleveland Aquarium project
- Center for Jewish History raises $30 million
Find articles on museums from IPM Magazine
Subscribe FREE: IPM Digital Edition