Mob Museum gets $500,000 grant

By Amanda Finnegan

Friday, July 30, 2010 | 9:11 a.m.

The Mob Museum has received a $500,000 grant on behalf of the Commission for the Las Vegas Centennial, the museum announced Thursday night.

The $500,000 grant brings the total value of grants and gifts awarded to the museum to $8.8 million. The grant from the Commission for the Las Vegas Centennial was generated from the sale of centennial license plates.

This most recent grant is to be specifically used for the ongoing abatement of materials within the nearly 70-year-old building and its ongoing restoration.

The Mob Museum will be housed in the former United States Post Office at 300 Stewart Avenue. It is the city of Las Vegas’ most historic building and was dedicated as its first federal building in 1933.

“The building itself is as much as part of the museum as what will be inside,” said Nancy Deaner, manager of the city of Las Vegas office of cultural affairs. “The building is also significant for the historic events that occurred there, namely the famed Kefauver hearings that for the first time in America, exposed and attempted control of organized crime.”

Earlier this month, the Las Vegas City Council approved $7.1 million for the exhibits that will go into the downtown museum.

The Mob Museum is expected to open in May or June of 2011.

The museum, which is expected to cost about $42 million to construct, is being funded through a variety of sources: local, state and federal grants, matching grants and the city's redevelopment agency.