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| - Not gonna lie, when I first heard about this project, I wasn't a fan. "Oh great another waste of tax dollars" I was thinking. For a long time I straight up refused to ever visit, but then I thought, well, it's assisting with the rejuvenation of DTLV, it involves the re-purposing of a historic building (the old post office and courthouse on Stewart), it's adding a much needed dose of local culture and character to Vegas in addition to the fact that it shows that we've finally started to actually acknowledge our past as a mob town, rather than trying to sweep it all under the rug like we have in the past.
For a while now, I've been looking to go on one of the "free for locals" days but I always seem to be busy when they roll around. A couple of weeks ago, one finally rolled around on a day where I didn't have any prior obligations.
I actually really liked how they start you off at the top floor and you work your way down from there. I know it's small but seeing that the average museum you work your way up and when it's time to leave you have to go all the way back down. Love the convenience of that layout.
You start off walking in a single file line, waiting to get your mugshot taken. LOL. It's a fun way of starting off the excursion. My personal favorite part was definitely the speakeasy and bootlegging section. It is in this section where you find the infamous St. Valentine's Day Massacre Wall, blood stains still in tact 85 years later. Definitely a chilling sight, one can't help but to wonder if the spirits are still attached to it.
Another particularly fun section was the "dinner table" section. At least that's what I call it, as it's basically a row of computer screens with interactive "plates" that show you the mob history as well as current mob activity in various locales. There's also an entire section dedicated to mob history as it specifically pertains to Vegas. It was fun to see the mob history of individual casinos, play with vintage slot machines and watching video monitors to try and catch the gambling scams in action.
One very nice touch was the Kefauver Hearings exhibit. It was a documentary with a touch of humor that was screened in the old courtroom, which interestingly enough, was one of the very courtrooms that played host to the committee! It was fantastic. This followed by the eeriest section of the museum, the "Mob's Greatest Hits." This is an exhibit deals with mob and mafia killings, going as far to even show the photos of bloodied corpses, the weapons used and even the barber chair that Albert Anastasia was killed in. *shiver*
At that point, that's pretty much where the museum ended for me. The bottom floor deals with law enforcement and prosecution, the family and personal lives of mob bosses and mob movies. Yawn.
The Final Verdict
Pros:
Museum dealing with a darker aspect of history
Unique and sometimes even chilling artifacts
Clever way of utilizing the courtroom
Very thorough and well-done exhibits
Discounted price and even occasional free days for locals
Cons:
Lackluster ending to the tour
The descriptions next to exhibits and artifacts were overly wordy at times
Huh?:
Is it me or did the entire museum feel a little Al Capone centric at times?
Return factor: 10/10 whenever they have another free day *chuckle*
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