Final Curtain To Fall On Liberace Museum

It's big news in Vegas but I'm sure word hasn't spread across the country.  After 31 years, the Liberace Museum in Las Vegas will close it's doors on October 17th.  For the last dozen years visitor attendance at the far off the Vegas Strip location has fallen dramatically, at one time attracting about 500,000 people annually to only about 30,000 at present.



These two videos are courtesy of the Las Vegas Sun.  For the best news website in Las Vegas, visit here.

Liberace's performances in Vegas were said to be legendary and his shows were as popular as Elvis and Sinatra. He paved the way for the outlandish costumes and bling that you see entertainers such as Lady Gaga use in their stage performances.
 Liberace opened the museum himself and would even show up in the restaurant Carluccio's and cook his own meals.  The Liberace Foundation which runs the museum also owns the shopping plaza where it is located on Tropicana Avenue and Spencer street, an area of  Vegas that has definitely seen it's better days.
The economy has shot the museum in the foot, not only with attendance, but with merchant's that have vacated the plaza.
Current plans for the many costumes, pianos, and cars in the museum (besides sitting in the warehouse) is to stage a national exhibit similar to Titanic and Bodies: The Exhibition.  The foundation is also hoping that a planned biopic with Michael Douglas and Matt Damon will be made as planned and interest in Liberace will be sparked enough that they can open in a new location in a few years on or near the strip.

In case you haven't been to the museum or will never get the chance to, above is a short video of some of the thousands of items in the Liberace Museum.  I actually should thank my brother and sister-in-law for having these photos since it was during one of their visits that I actually went to the museum.

UPDATE!
The Las Vegas Sun is reporting that a lot of finger pointing is going on now that it has been announced that the Liberace Museum is closing.  Their article about the situation is very interesting and pretty in depth.  Go here to read the article.

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