The Mob Museum, a museum that focuses on the history, significance and influence of organized crime, opened its doors on February 14, 2012 — a day associated with the Valentine’s Day Massacre of 1929 in Chicago, one of the greatest mob hits in history — in the heart of downtown Las Vegas. The museum staffs former FBI agents, former police officers, historians and experts who provide accurate facts about organized crime.

Westlake Reed Leskosky of Phoenix served as the lead designer and architect with engineers and cultural planners leading the integrated design process for this monumental, $42 million project. The Mob Museum was funded through local, state and federal grants.

According to Paul E. Westlake Jr., managing principal and lead designer, Westlake Reed Leskosky, “This museum will be a major destination that interprets the building and its history, as well as the subject content in a comprehensive manner.”

Creating The Mob Museum involved redesigning a 40,000-square-foot, historic 1933 post office and federal courthouse into a contemporary museum facility. There are three floors of exhibit galleries that include interactive multimedia and artifacts.

The gallery rooms have intriguing names associated with their theme, such as “American Underworld,” “A Tough Little Town,” “Open City,” “The Game Continues,” “We Only Kill Each Other,” “Bringing Down the Mob” and “The Myth of the Mob.”

“Organized crime has been and continues to be a dramatic and influential part of our culture in America,” says Patrick Gallagher, president of Gallagher & Associates, museum planning and exhibit designer. “At The Mob Museum, the very real stories and events that impacted and shaped Las Vegas will come to life through immersive environments, artifacts and deeply engaging media.”

Also featured in these exhibits is a restoration of a historic courtroom famous for its Kefauver Committee hearings that began federal prosecution and exposed organized crime in the early 1950s.

In The Mob Museum, all sides are presented through historic content. The development of organized crime and law enforcement in America is brought to life through recreated environments and exhibits pertaining to notable characters. The museum reveals a non-embellished inside look into the events and people involved in Mob history.

For more information about The Mob Museum, visit themobmuseum.org.

 

If You Go: The Mob Museum
300 Stewart Avenue
(702) 229-2734
themobmuseum.org